Warbases Dark Ages Watchtower (3)

The next stage was to apply some texture to the walls. MDF is great but a little featureless. So I 'rendered' the walls with a mixture of filler, play sand and PVA glue that I mixed to be runny enough to simply paint on.
It was quite fiddly to get it under the eaves of the roof and between the A frame but I couldn't work out how I could have assembled differently to make it any easier. It was also at this point I was glad I'd decided to glue the roof down - to make it removable you'd have to leave the walls featureless, which seemed like it would look bobbins.

Hopefully this has "rendered" you speechless

Rendering dry it was thatching time. So I dug out the last of the trusty black face flannel and set to work cutting strips and soaking them in dilute PVA before laying them in place.

Short back and sides?

Good progress so far - time to get some paint on - tune in next time kids...

Warbases Dark Ages Watchtower (2)

Progress with the Warbases Watchtower.

Once I'd got enough of the struts in place to set the balcony on and after they'd dried good and hard - if it's not hard don't carry on that's my motto - I glued the balcony down.

That way I figured I'd be able to glue the other struts in place to better compensate for any slight unevenness.

As you can see, not all of them in place at this stage. But adding them from here was much quicker than the previous stage, which made me wonder if I shouldn't have started by somehow gluing the balcony on first.

Once this had set I then added the roof and upper door.all of which just slotted into position.

All in all it went together very smoothly with the parts being a good fit. For £7.50 I reckon its a bargain.

Next stage some roofing and rendering and painting and the like.

Warbases Dark Ages Watchtower (1)

I've been building quite a bit of Warbases stuff recently.
As I did this one I took lots of step-by-step pictures.

This is their Dark Age Watchtower that I picked up recently for a very reasonable £7.50. It's much smaller than the ones available from 4 Ground, but for the skirmish size gaming I mostly get up to it's perfect and as I like my scenery to have a small footprint fits the bill exactly.

So what do you get in the bag?
A big pile of lazer cut MDF. All smelling slightly burny. There are no instructions. I'm not sure they're necessary to be honest, if you can't work out how to put this together you probably shouldn't be handling sharp modelling knives. Or indeed any sort of knife apart from those bendy rubber ones.
That said there were a couple of points when it might have been handy to have things spelled out - do this first or this bit coming up will be trickier then you imagine - that kind of thing.

The contents. Mmmmm, smells good.

Anyway with reckless abandon I started gluing together. I used PVA woodglue as, well its made of wood so that just seemed natural. First up I glued the tower core together. there is a little square piece that gives you the correct base shape and ensures the walls are reasonably square. There is another of these presumably to allow you to have an inner floor (and maybe for extra rigidity). I didn't bother, rigidity is not a problem for me. And I have no intention of putting models inside.

A column thrusts skywards

I suppose one should point out the importance of keeping the pointy edges opposite one another and the flat bits on the other sides, but see my comments about sharp knives earlier.

As you can see I used elastic bands to maintain my erection as it dried. 

What?

Next up I moved onto the roof. This is two flat bits that slot together and are then held in place by little A frames. The A frames have a wood pattern engraved on one side, so make sure that side is facing...oh you know this stuff. The A frames made this a bit easier to assemble the roof than I've found it on a couple of the Warbases models.

Tidy

Finally for sub assemblies I glued together the balcony. Four fences (two of one type two of another) glued into a big square bit with a central hole (also square). As with pointy and non pointy ends you need the same types of fence opposing one another but as you've worked out how to read and use the interwebs this shouldn't be beyond most of you.

A balcony. Or small child's playpen

Several days later I returned to the project. Sticking on the balcony before the roof seemed to me the way to go. Presumably if you're putting a floor in you may want to not glue the roof down but as that would be the choice of a loony I disregarded it. The balcony sits on some thin struts. One option I guess is to stick the struts to the balcony first and then attach the whole kaboodle to the tower. I decided to attach struts to tower then lower the balcony on.

I marked the height I wanted the balcony at and then set to work gluing. To be honest it was a bit of a faff and took a long time but i got there in the end. persistence and patience are not the middle name of anyone in my family, so some of you may find this bit less irksome than I did.

Like a small wooden pylon

This isn't all of them added, there are eight in total (two at each corner for the mathematically challenged among you) but it gives the general idea. Getting them level is pretty important as the balcony will sit atop them and be wonky if you've not got it right.

I also added the lower door at this stage. The upper door I decided would look better under one of the peaked tower ends, so for variety I placed the lower door at the base of one of the flat-topped sides.

Goblins versus High Elves Warhammer game

Grizzgit wheezed and grunted as he plodded alongside the huge unit of Night Goblin spears.
How, he wondered, had it come to this?
Back on Nosebite hill he was well respected, a Shaman with a direct line to the green gods, much feared by the rest if the tribe.
Now here he was, soaked to the skin, battered and bruised, in a land he didn't recognise with only a bunch of poxy Night Goblins and some dimwitted trolls for company. If and when he ever met up with Gruzzkup again, he'd be reminding him whose job it was to get visitations from Gork (or Mork) and demonstrating how even a mighty Warboss ought to keep in well with a Shaman if he knew what was good for him.
Just then his muttering was interrupted. Kint Uckee, the keen sighted leader of Da Blue Moon Archers, was shouting and pointing.
"'Ere, Grizzgit, look. Elvesis, stupid pointy eared Elvesis. In skirts. Can we shoot 'em?"
The shaman turned and bellowed instructions to the rest of the force, urging them into line as he felt the power of the Waaagh rise and green energy begin to flow in his veins. Elves was just what he needed to get everything out of his system!


In the first game of our Warhammer campaign I went to war with a (mostly) Night Goblin army, led by the venerable level 4 Shaman Grizzgit.
Sadly all did not go well for the greenskins.
Outflanked by Reaver knights and terrified by the Griffon, the demise of the Great Shaman on turn one meant for an uphill struggle. By the end there were few Goblins left and lots of High Elves, their clothing unsullied by blood or other beastly stains.

 Wait, how did they get there?

 I call upon the power of Gor...oh, I'm dead.

 They're where now?

 Whaddya mean the fanatic's already been used..?

Lads there's only about ten of them, this'll be a walk in the park...

I didn't take many pictures as:

• Lots of the models on both sides remain unpainted - always the danger at the start of a campaign
• My camera is bobbin
• I got carried away and forgot

We played a 1500 point meeting engagement that made for an enjoyable (if brief) game which demonstrated that High Elves, though few in number, are a tough nut to crack. Particularly for puny Night Goblins. Lets see how things go when my Orc based army takes the field for the next game...

Waaagh! Gruzzkup and the Invasion of Ulthuan

In the Imperial Year 2522 Warlord Gruzzkup of the Dragonback Mountains was visited by a vision from Mork. Or possibly Gork. The great green god (or maybe his brother) told him to build a mighty boat and build it on top of Nosebite hill. Knowing better than to doubt the will of Gork (or perhaps Mork) the warboss summoned the tribe and ordered a boat be built. Although many of the assembled greenies openly mocked Gruzzkup and questioned his wisdom a short bout of extreme violence so typical of the Warlord soon convinced them that boat building was the best way forward. At least until someone could knife him in the back.

So the boat building began and soon the whole tribe were gripped in a mighty frenzy and the woods for miles around were levelled as not one but many ramshackle boats sprang up all over Nosebite hills

At last Gruzzkup's mighty war barge was finished and he and his closest lads withdrew to await whatever Gork, or Mork decided.

At first nothing happened. The greenskins sat in their boats on the side of a hill and waited. Other tribes occasionally came by to laugh at them. Some tried to leave but Gruzzkup’s boar boys hunted them down like vermin and dragged their remains back to the hill.

Finally just as even the Big Uns were beginning to doubt their leader and were drawing lots to see who would challenge him the skies began to darken.

A wind such as had never before been felt began to howl around the valley, green lightning flashed across the skies and the tribe gripped their rowlocks tight and shouted for Gork and Mork. Finally as the storm reached its height a huge rushing sound could be heard and down the valley a vast green tidal wave raced toward Nosebite hill. The wave broke across the hill and the boats of Gruzzkup and his boys were enveloped in a tumultuous rush of water.

No-one, especially not the Orcs who are never good at estimating such things, could tell how long the storm blew. It could have been hours, days or weeks. However as suddenly as it had begun it blew itself out.

Hauling himself up from below decks Gruzzkup ventured out on deck.

Around him the sea was covered with wreckage and bodies and more than few battered but still seaworthy hulks. As he pondered what the gods had decided for him a shout went up from a keen sighted Goblin “ Land boss, land dataway!”

“Waddya all waiting for?” the Warlord roared “Get da oarz out and row”

And so it was that Waagh Gruzzkup fell upon the shores of an unsuspecting Ulthuan.

It was not long before watching elves spied the assembled warfleet beaching on the shores. As spears and bows were readied swift riders mounted up and rode to summon reinforcements. War had come to the land of Ulthuan and the greenskins must be repelled!

Under the influence of the mighty Gork (or possibly Mork) Warlord Gruzzkup and his army have washed up on a remote corner of Ulthuan. Much of the Elven warhost is away, fighting Daemons and their Dark Elf allies in the north of the land, so but a small force remains to repel the invaders. Reinforcements have been sent for but will take time to arrive.

There are two things counting the High Elves favour. Firstly the storms have scattered the greenskins and it will take time for them to assemble and bring their full power to bear. Secondly the geography of the region with impassable mountain ranges reaching down to the sea shore means the Waagh must fight its way through a narrow pass before it can fall upon the interior of Ulthuan. For Eldric of the Dawn Fortress the future is clear. He must delay the Orcs and defeat them at Emerald Pass. Failure cannot be contemplated.

So begins our new Warhammer Campaign in which I shall be throwing myself into the role of Warlord Gruzzkup as he attempts to bring Ulthuan to its knees. Or at least have a few good punch-ups while he tries.

Someone Else's Work

We've been playing a bit of Dux Britanniarum recently.
This has meant investment in movement trays and a bit of painting.
By way of taunting my opponent sent me this picture of the fine men of Elmet* parading in their best bib and tucker, just waiting to be cut down by some marauding Angles.

You'll never take our natty three-quarter length trousers!

Mainly, I believe the rather splendid Gripping Beast Welsh. I think they look very jolly.

My Saxons meanwhile wait patiently for their own trays to be flocked...

* you may wonder why proud Norherners from Elmet would be waiving a Kentish flag. Well their owner hails from daarn sarf (I know, tragic) so I think he thinks they're from down that way. But I picked the campaign setting and decided I'd invade Elmet from Petuaria.

Early Church Finished

So finally, well over a year after first starting, my Early Church is finished.
Intended for games of Dux Bellorum, Dux  Britanniarum, Warhamer Ancient Battles and SAGA (when they get round to the supplement), mainly to be raided by hordes of hairy Anglo-Saxons - specifically Angles in my case.

It's intended to represent a Late Roman or Romano British or Sub Roman or whatever they're called these days church from somewhere small and on the very fringes of the Empire. Somewhere like Elmet. Given the absence of much evidence of churches of this period in Britain it's largely speculative (or made up if you prefer), but I did want it to have aisles up the side and a great big curvy apse. I love a big curvy apse.There aren't many images on the net to go on, but I took some inspiration from the drawings on the Early British Kingdoms site. As its intended for a backwater it is thatched rather than tiled and I imagine, beneath the render, that it's mostly wooden, which goes some way to explaining the lack of archaeological evidence for such a church. Conveniently.

 Look at the apse on that!

After the last stage I applied a wash of Gryphonne Sepia to all the walls before drybrushing back up with Wilkinson's Crushed Almond. The thatch was overbrushed with Khemri Brown then drybrushed with Bleached Bone. The wooden parts were Charadon Granite, overbrushed with Graveyard Earth then a few random daubs of various browns to give a wooden effect before a final wash of Devlan Mud. Finally the Chi-Rho was painted on freehand with Scab Red.

That's a Musketeer Late Roman for scale next to the model. You can see it's actually got a pretty small footprint, but I like my scenery that way and prefer it to be small but convey the idea of a church rather than be to scale and eat up huge chunks of the playing surface.

Overall I'm very pleased with it, and my regular opponent is very much looking forward to me trying to pillage it the next time we play Dux Britanniarum.

If you want to check back over the (lengthy) building progress here are the various stages
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four