First Age Middle Earth at Hammerhead

James and I went to Hammerhead on Saturday - advice from the CMO at this point was that it was OK to do so - so we went to show support (and because we'd booked a table)
The venue had supplied extra hand sanitiser that most people seemed to take advantage of and there was a pleasingly "united" spirit to the day - along with lots of muttered chat about the future..

James and I took along two Middle Earth games both using the excellent Dragon Rampant rules. I had a small Third Age "Lord of the Rings" set up (more of that in a future post) but the main attraction was James splendid First Age game based on a battle from the Silmarillion with Elves attempting to escape from Orcy clutches.

I didn't get to spend a lot of time on the game with just the two of us in attendance as I was kept busy at my end of the table.
But I did grab a few pictures...

Before anyone asks the cloth is made from Sherpa Fleece and you can read how James made it over on Lead Adventure forum.

The Orcs are a mix of Oathmark, GW, some Warlord and even a few Perry War of the Roses arms.
The Elves are Oathmark with the mounted ones being conversions using Conquest and Gripping beast horses and bodies.

Effectively ths big battle broke down into several smaller ones - with a large elf force having to fight off three standard sized orc armies - losing models along the way...

And so at the end of the day it looked something like this...

Finally the elves made a glorious escape.
Which I then took three pictures of:

A marvellous looking game and all the people who gave it a try seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Medb

From the excellent Northstar Celt range comes this evil priestess - who I've christened named Medb after the character from the Slaine comics that have so clearly inspired this range.

I tried to paint her using the Contrast paints i bought for my WarCry warband, but the large areas of skin and cloth actually just looked blotch and a bit rubbish. possibly acceptable for rank and file troops, but not for a character (and certainly not for a nice sculpt like this one) so I ended up completely repainting her  - apart from the hair which remains contrast Black Templar.

Here's a very similar but slightly different shot.

Dog handler and dogs now - then it really is down to Northstar for some more. Or paint up the Fomorians.

Drong the Hard

Our rcnt War of the Beard type games sent me scurrying off to the Leadpile in search of the main protagonist of the Grudge of Drong scenario pack from years gone by.
And here he is - Drong the Hard last of the bloodline of Thrund

Lovely, old school Ali Morrison (I think) sculpt.

And here from a slightly jauntier angle

Just need to paint 30 (thirty!!) miners now for the first scenario.

Wargs

Ahead of Hammerhead on Saturday, six Wargs for the Dragon Rampant Middle Earth Third Age (that's Lord of the Rings - Peter Jackson style) game we'll be running.

Painted many years ago, but only based up today.

The game will be a simple, small points size affair ideal for younger gamers (or folks wanting a taste of the game)  to pass hour or so.
Elsewhere on the same table James will be running a much bigger First Age game using all his lovely models - or in fact three linked games as the Elves struggle to escape the clutches of the Orcs. Ideal if you want to spend a little longer rolling dice with us.
As it's Hammerhead both games are participatory, so do come and demand to throw dice if you're passing. Or just stop for a chat. We won't bite!
We're on table GA04 - handily placed by the cafe for bacon cobs.

Warhammer 8th edition - Dwarfs and Elves

The War of the Beard continues.
I left my camera in the house and couldn't be bothered to go back, so phone pictures for a change.

A variation on the pitched battle - lifted from One Hour Wargames - where the two armies must each seize a piece of terrain. In this case, two hills. With the added Warhammer twist that we'd dice to see what type of hill it was when we moved on to it.

The warriors of Clan Groznog assemble

The battle of Twin Peaks begins.

Hmmm, he's bought the filthy Swordmasters again..

And the shooty stabby blokes.

No Freezyflap this time. But the Dragon Princes have turned up.

The dwarfs grabbed the regular hill that looked like a Chaos Shrine.

The thunderers turned to deal with the Ellyrian reavers, who hitched their skirts and scampered away to their flank.

I forgot to take pictures for a while, but the Hamerrers murdered the Swordmasters for a change, while the spear elves took the hill.

Eventually, thinned by a poisonous wood, the Longbeards took the ordinary looking hill that turned out (inevitably) to be a Chaos shrine. The standard bearer wisely chose not to call on the dark gods.

The Dragon Princes proved to be a magnet for cannonballs.

But the Quarrelers were ejected from the hill.

Elyrian Reavers decided not to charge the Longbeards.

The Dwarf Warriors ground down the spearmen, but all in vain.

At the end each side held one hill.

But far more dwarfs lay dead then elves and so victory again to the point-ears.

Good fun game but i think I need to paint some other models for a bit of variety in the force....

Even more Northstar Celts

These five mean I've finished all the infantry I initially got for my Northstar Celts.

I now have 24 mixed spears and swordsmen and a unit of 6 archers and a leader.
The idea was to use them either as units of 8 infantry and 6 archers for OGAM or two units of 12 infantry and 6 scouts for Dragon Rampant.
They also work in 8s and 6s for James' rules too.

I should probably do a group shot.

I have the sorceress and a unit of wolfhounds still to paint up, and I'd like to convert a chariot too.

Of course now I'm thinking - maybe another 8 as bodyguard for the sorceress...

Night Gobbos

Three Skull Pass Night Goblins.

I want to split my unit of 50 into 2 of 30 for our proposed "All Goblins" campaign so a new rank of 10, including command, is in order.