Old Bones 2 is Out Now!

Old Bones, Issue 2 is now available in print-on-demand and PDF at DriveThru.

In this issue, you will find:

* Meta-Magic in Frostgrave - Ten new spells that directly effect other spells.

* Web of Lies  - An Oathmark scenario with a very big spider!

* Hoverchairs - Getting around in Stargrave without legs.

* The Headless Rider - A solo scenario for The Silver Bayonet.

* Books of Illusionary Form - New possibilities for the Illusionary Soldier spell in Frostgrave.

* A Dangerous Message - A solo scenario for Rangers of Shadow Deep, featuring just the ranger.

* Alladorean Lucky Penny - A little bit of luck for Rangers of Shadow Deep characters.

Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs

I just finished reading Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs - the story of the downfall of TSR. While I knew the tale in broad outline, there were a lot of stories and detail that was new to me. Any easy read, and an important addition to the history of role-playing. Recommended.

Going to put it in the permanent library between my copies of Empire of Imagination and Designers & Dragons.

Retro - Chaos Blood Bowl Players!

 

On a recent trip home to the USA, I discovered these guys in an old box of miniatures. These are the survivors of my very first Blood Bowl team! The year must have been 1996 or 1997. I was attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but I was a lot more interested in hanging out in the legendary game store, Cerebral Hobbies, than I was in my academic studies.

A new Blood Bowl league was starting up (CHUBB – Chapel Hill Underground Blood Bowl), and I jumped right in with a Chaos Team. I don’t think I did particularly well in that season, and I soon realized that a Chaos team really didn’t fit my preferred play style. Still, I had fun, and evidently had fun painting the figures.

I wasn’t a great figure painter back in those days – though perhaps these aren’t the best figures to judge by. I obviously fully leaned into the ‘chaos’ idea, painting the two chaos warriors with a riot of colours.

What is really amazing is, that despite being over 25 years ago, and only playing with them for one season, I still remember two of their names! The figure on the left is Uncle Remos, which is easy to remember because he’s got a bluebird on his shoulder! The figure was a metal chaos warrior of the time with his weapon clipped off. The bird, which has it wings cut off, must have come from another kit.

The other chaos warrior is called ‘Billy Bones’. I remember this because he was originally named ‘Jolly Roger’, but that guy got killed during the season, so Billy was his replacement.

Look at the flocking I used on those guys!

I admit, I can’t remember the name of the beastman in the centre, but he’s a pretty unique character. During the season he got a strength increase and a mutation which gave him 4 arms! This is not the greatest combination in game turns, but made for a fun conversion. The base figure is a metal minotaur. The additional arms come from… a harpy.. maybe? They are pretty seamlessly added to the figure, which is impressive for my skills at the time – I expect I had some help from Joe or Mark, who were much better miniatures guys than me.

For some reason I decided to keep these three, even though the rest of the team appears to be long gone.  Perhaps I should get them some help and give them one more ride on the Blitzbowl pitch?

Medical Rhino 'Mercy Me'

Having busted out my old Demon Hunters army to use as protagonists in my games of Space Hulk, I thought it was about time the army got some reinforcements. In truth, with 3 squads of Stormtroopers and 2 squads of Imperial Guard, it doesn't really need anymore infantry, and as I have always seen them as a 'light' force, I don't want to give them any big tanks or artillery. So, after a little bit of thought, I decided I would make a medical rhino. This would go well with the other 3 rhinos that serve as the main transports for the force, but also be unique.

As it turns out, the humble rhino APC is getting a bit hard to come by. Games Workshop isn't sending it out to shops anymore, though you can still order it straight from them. It is truly the end of an era! This version of the rhino has long been my favourite sci-fi APC. Still, the four I've got are probably enough.

After doing the basic assembly, I raided the bits box for stowage. I figured, as a support vehicle, it is more likely to be carrying extra stuff, so I stuck boxes, a tow-cable, a shovel, and a large tarp on it, as well as a few other random bits just to give it a bit of a unique look.

The biggest challenge was the caduceus, the medical symbol. 40K has their own version of the symbol, without the snakes, but kind of like a winged, sharp-edged double helix. For the first time ever, I tried to print out my own decals using the symbol... and it failed completely. Not sure what I was doing wrong, but after I put them in water, they turned to sludge. So, I gave up and decided to hand paint it. Well, mostly. I decided to do my own version. I started with a skull decal I had, and then painted the symbol around it. It's far from perfect, but I think it came out okay, and it certainly stands out on the table top! 

I was originally going to name it the 'Mercy Wagon' and write that in Latin... then I saw the length of the translation and decided to keep it in English. Then I painted 'Mercy' and realized I'd never fit 'Wagon', so it was re-christened the 'Mercy Me', which I kind of like, even if my hand-painting of the name isn't too good.

The plan is to crew the Mercy Me with 4 doctor figures and 4 guard troopers. I've got one doctor in the Army already (pictured). I also have the Vostroyan doctor figure that I need to paint up.  I'd really like to get one of the old, metal, Sister of Mercy figures, but they are a bit pricey on ebay... so I'm holding off. (If you got one spare, please send me a message!).  Since I want to keep the figures in the army 'all metal', I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the last one. There is the Tanith doctor figure, but I'm not a huge fan of it. There are some much older figures, but I'm not sure how well they would fit with the ones from this era. I'll just have to see. Anyway, it's nice to have a new addition to the army!

Genestealers!

 

I am continuing to work on my first edition Space Hulk set and have painted five of the genestealers. I'm pretty sure these guys set the record for the longest time between buying and painting (I estimate 31 years). Truthfully, I'm astounded by how well these models hold up. They were loads of fun to paint and have some great detail. Okay, they only have one pose, but it's such an 'arms everywhere' kind of pose that it doesn't bother me as much as it would for some figures. Just turning the figure slightly gives it a very different look. The one pose aside, I honestly think these are better figures than the current ones that Games Workshop is selling - and the original designer deserves some big kudos! 

I didn't want to spend too long painting these, so I went for a relatively simple paint job. The main colour is Vallejo Middlestone. I then hit it with a black wash and reapplied the Middlestone. I added a bit of white to the Middlestone for the claws. The colourful bits are painted Vallejo Magenta. This gives some really nice contrast to the models, and I think makes them nice and 'buggy'. This is especially important as I plan on using them in other games such as Stargrave and Operation: Last Train as well.

So, truthfully, I only used 4 colours for these figures (not counting the two for the base).

Five down, 17 to go!

Smashy Smurf

 

My latest blue abomination! Actually, the blue isn't that dark in reality; I'm not sure why it came out so dark in the photo... Anyway, it's a pretty cool figure. It's supposed to be the titan Atlas, and comes from the Mythic Battles Pantheon game. I acquired it, semi-intentionally, as part of a trade. 

I'm not sure why I painted him blue. I think the idea of painting all that 'flesh' just bored me, so I decided to spice it up a bit. For a board game figure, he's got great detail and proved easy to paint. He's the only true 'giant' figure I've got, so he might see play a variety of games. I included the Reaper figure just to show off his size.

Inside the Space Hulk

The battlecarrier Black Moab has discovered a lost scientific vessel, floating in interstellar space. Although the ship is swarming with lifesigns they aren't the good kind. Unfortunately, the ship probably contains extremely valuable scientific data that must be recovered. Inquisitor Lord Voulgaris has ordered officers to secure the ship.

The main docking points on the ship have been locked internally. Thus, a single squad was sent over in a shuttle to work their way to the docking control station. If these locks can be overridden (or even destroyed) then a larger assault can be attempted.

Having busted out the Space Hulk the other night, I decided to give the solo rules (found in the Deathwing expansion) a try. Re-theming the game as a mission for my Inquisitorial Stormtroopers (but using the standard rules), I set up the first mission.  

The game started out extremely fortunate for me. The first turn saw only a pair of genestealers enter play. Meanwhile, on the first two turns, I had a total of 11 command points (out of a possible 12). This allowed me to quickly advance the sergeant and the flamer. Although the genestealers got more reinforcements on the second turn, I was able to flame the board section adjacent to their entry point and keep that group pinned there for a couple turns.  

Things still managed to get pretty hairy at the end, as a swarm of genestealers appeared near the top. The sergeant was able to blast his way up past the last crucial turn, allowing the flamer to slip in behind him. However, the only way to secure the victory was to flame the board section containing the sergeant. This prevented any further stealers from stopping the flamer from achieving victory, but also cost the sergeant his life. The only flaw in an otherwise perfectly executed mission.  

The solo rules actually make the game a bit easier, as the stealer blip placement doesn't always make the smartest move. I had to overrule it a couple of times. That's okay though. I've always though the game was a little too hard for the marine player anyway, so this is a nice leveller. 

Mission Report

Sergeant Kastin led the team from the front, with flametroooper Rutiz just behind him. I had the middle position, with Pvt. Traklin behind me, and Pvt. Passenfar bring up the rear. The Sgt. and Rutiz advanced quickly through the corridors while the rest of us covered various side-passages. There was little movement at first, but when the enemy appeared, they did so in force. Passenfar got the most action as he held the rear, gunning down bugs by the handful. Traklin and myself only managed occasional shots as bugs flashed past deeper in the ship. We lost line of sight to the Sgt and Rutiz, so could only follow their exploits on radio. The Sgt. apparently led the charge, while Rutiz laid down flamer fire to stymie the bugs approach. 

    I hate to comment on exactly what happened at the end. As near as I can make out, the Sgt cleared the way for Rutiz to have a clear shot at the objective, but at the last moment, a bug came out of nowhere. Responding instinctively, Rutiz flamed the area... and unfortunately caught the sergeant in the spray. Considering the darkness, the close confines, and the speed of the enemy, the mistake, though tragic, is understandable.

Cpl. Taglon 

After Action

Casualties

K.I.A. Sgt. Wen Kastin

Confirmed Kills

Sgt. Kastin: 4

Pvt. Rutiz: 2

Pvt. Traklin: 1

Pvt. Passenfar: 8