Averlander Mercenaries

Hot on the heels of finishing my Reiklanders I couldn't resist starting a new human mercenary warband. Obviously my Reiklanders will evolve and grow over time, but I wanted a second human warband to work on.

Spent ages trying to decide which one to go with, and ended up with the Averlanders. Why? Simple, they get halflings!

Here's where we are so far:

That's a youngblood with sword and buckler, and the captain with sword and brace of pistols. The second one show my mountain guard, two great swords and a halberd (obviously wip).

I love the greatswords, think it's such an awesome looking weapon. And so long as they attack en masse they should do some real damage. WS4, so decent chance of hitting most things, then S5 if they connect will give even dwarfs and orcs something to think about. Just got to survive the enemy's preemptive retaliation!

I'm also having a sergeant with a sword and an axe, then two bergjaegers with long bows. Then of course three halflings all with bows.

Ironically that's 5 BS4 bow/longbows. There's a good chance they'll outshoot the Reiklanders. Which seems a little odd since they're supposed to be all shooty n stuff. If they get that far I really want one of those old empire ogres, with the big floppy caps. That'd fit in perfectly here I think.

Reiklanders ready for battle!

The Reiklander Mercenaries are now all based up and painted. I need to go back and do a few highlights and details (sure they'd appreciate getting eye-ed for instance), but they're table ready.

Working left to right the whole warband is:

Abel (youngblood). Weilding a hammer and sword Abel is an expert swordsman with a tendancy to injure his victims. Surprisingly strong for one so young. Unfortunately over zealous youthfullness means he tends to fluff a lot of his attacks. He'll learn. Or die trying.

Brother Yardstick (champion). A new arrivee from the Mysterious Measuring Monks. Alas Brother Furlong passed away cleaved in twain by a rather irate dwarf clansman.

Pistol Marksman). One of Falke's Fliers, he weilds a brace of pistols and boasts unerring accuracy both at range and in close.

Swordsman (Tibalt's Tankers). Weilding hammer and sword, this furious swordsman delivers a flurry of attacks.

Longbow Marksman. Falke himself, reknowned for his accuracy, though his success rate has diminished of late.

Albertus Brandt (captain). Albertus weilds a duelling pistol and gromril hammer. Stronger, more aggressive and more ruthless in close combat since first entering Stadtheim. His light armour has more than proved it's worth against Orc arrows.

Longbow Marksman, the latest addition to Falke's Fliers already one kill to his name.

Hans (champion). Another new comer, the replacement for Dieter. Who was in turn a replacement for Reinhard. Something of a cursed seat at the table.

Swordsman (Harald's Hitters), a newly recruited henchman ready to join the search for riches and glory.

Crossbow Marksman, lending some much needed power to Falke's Fliers. A high kill rate for this one.

Wilber (youngblood), recently graduated to expert swordsman status. We shall see how this aids him, Wilber already having missed two battles through injuries.


And there you have it. Fame and glory awaits. Or at the very least enough coffers to hire a bloody big Ogre!


Hans is

Town Overview

Here's the town as it currently stands, the layout I've been playing on to learn the rules. Each board is 16" square, so it needs another row of three down the left hand side to bulk up to 4'x4'.

The boards at the front are the newest. Now I've sorted out the fluff and location for this place, I can say with some certainty that that's the river Aver. Right there, at the front. Looking a little black and brown. Hrm.

Left front board, the canal mouth, doesn't need a huge amount more work. The plank of balsa wood is obviously going to be replaced with a proper foot bridge.

The right front board is being worked on at the moment. It's getting a small stall in the first gap in the tiles, the other side will be a small merchants house. Then between the two will be a tower with a small courtyard. Then steps down in the gap and at the front a quay. It's all planned. Just not, you know, happening all that fast.

I've also decided I need to do an interior for the church, otherwise it's just a big obstacle. Fortunately the roof is removable anyway so it just needs a floor, a few pews and a paintjob. Then I'll finally get all the stained glass windows in!

Amazing how just playing a game changes your perception of the build, which bits are useful and what needs work. The brewery yard definitely needs a second entrance for instance, otherwise unless you start in there or the scenario requires building searches why would you ever use it?

Orc Pirates!

Waagh. Indeedy. Ok the orcs are moving along nicely. I got all the sculpting done a few days ago, and now I've finished painting the Reiklanders I'm working my way through these guys. Today I got Kaptin Kabin done.

Very simple colour scheme and paintwork as always (base coat, wash, occasional highlights). Quite happy with the kaptin, not sure if it shows in the pic too well but his beard is orange with flecks of red then drybrushed yellow. Looks quite vivid.

And here he is with the other four painted crewmen:

LR: a Kabin Runt, a Spika Krew member, Kaptin Kabin, Nuggit the shaman, an Arra Krew member.

Still got 7 to go. Oh and Boz 'Un had to be renamed Boz Het, because somehow he ended up looking like James Hetfield.

Brandt's Return

It was with great reticence and a tangible sense of unease that Albertus Brandt returned to the town of Stadtheim. His last visit, some two years ago, had ended in the death of his good friend and trusted sword Richter at the hands of the the vile skaven filth.

Stadtheim, a small port on the River Aver, was a fairly innocuous little town until a few years back. After the well documented events in Mordheim, many miles to the north, illicit wyrdstone trade routes sprang up right across the eastern Empire. Many tried their luck travelling down the River Stir, which passed through Mordheim itself. However the 'Stir Run' proved fateful for all who attempted it. Local militia and like-minded competition watched eagle-eyed day and night, slaughtering and dispossessing any who came to their grasp.

And so by strange misfortune it was to the gates of Stadtheim that the major southern route fell. Crossing Stirland on foot was no mean task, but from here the wyrdrunners could ride the river to Nuln and beyond in relative safety.

The flowing trade had changed Stadtheim from an unassuming burg to a bustling merchant haven. The Mayor expanded the city watch three fold to deal with the rising robbery crime, but otherwise did little to stop the flow of wyrdstone through his town's limits. The local nobility benefited greatly from the growth, increasing their power and status through canny trade and careful employ of less tasteful methods.

It was in the purse of one such noble that Albertus had last served in Stadtheim. He'd been hired to track down a band of giant rats that had followed a trade convoy to the town. His mission had been a success, destroying the skaven to the last and acquiring a large haul of wyrdstone in the process. The loss of Richter had stung Brandt deeply though, and he left the town vowing never to return.

Yet two years later he was once again stood at the town gates, his new warband in tow ready to tackle another mission. The missive from Baron Ritter had been too tempting to ignore. An enormous cache of wyrdstone was discovered to be within the town, and warriors and mercenaries from all across the Empire were flocking to Stadtheim to contend for riches and glory. The Baron had made Brandt a hefty proposition if he would champion Ritter's stake in the treasure hunt. The chance to re-equip his warband and maybe make one last run at Mordheim itself couldn't be passed over.

"Lost in reverie, Captain?" said Brother Furlong, the man who had so adequately filled Richter's shoes.

"Hardly, padre. This town holds nothing for me now but the big pile of coin that's headed our way," replied Brandt.

The rest of the warband, dubbed "Brandt's Brigands" by one of the youngbloods, filed past up the street toward the nearest tavern. The journey from Altdorf had been a long one, but once rested up they'd be hot on the trail of the apparent fortune.

And they weren't the only ones. Already in the town were many bands of mercenaries from Marienburg, Middenheim, Ostland and of course Averland itself. Dwarf treasure hunters had come out of the World's Edge Mountains. Even bands of Halflings had travelled from the nearby Mootland. Rumours of pirates of every creed and colour (including green) were spreading like wildfire around the town. Who knows what other vile creatures were also a party to the hunt in the dark of night?

Stadtheim, for the time being at least, was about to pay host to the Empires largest brawl. To the victor, untold spoils and riches. To the losers, ignominy and desperation. If they were very lucky.

So it begins.

Yarrrrr, Pirates!

Started painting the orc pirates. Slowly slowly as usual, but the first guy has been base coated and washed. He'll get some detailing and some highlights, though not much as is my usual style.

Really happy with the feel of these guys though. And the sculpting, whilst not gobsmacking, seems to be ok in the final thing. The bandanas across the crew are alright, and this guys mutton chops make me chuckle which is what it's all about.

Hope to get the rest painted up this weekend. Also, now I have a rule book to read (hate reading long articles on screen) I've started to learn to play. Might try a couple of solo games this weekend to figure out how things work. Woo.

Warbands Update

Quick update on the three warbands then.

The Reiklanders I'm still waiting for my empire militia to arrive. Have been decidedly let down by the Internet in the last two weeks, orders are taking forever. Perhaps there's a postal strike I don't know about?

However I've got a parcel to collect tomorrow, I think that's my Mordheim boxed set. Just the rules and the minis, no scenery (which obviously I'm providing my own!). So those guys should fill up my Reiklanders and the new militia will go to my second human warband.

The Orc Pirates are greenstuffed, or pro-created anyway, and have been primed. They're currently on the kitchen floor drying. I'll try and get the first one painted tomorrow and pics online.

The Possessed I'm waiting on all my orders except for the Magister, who put everyone else to shame arriving two days after purchase. Very cool character, was concerned it might not be tall enough but he's as large as my biggest Reiklander so it'll work fine. I've just chopped off the horrid premoulded base and severed his hand ready for the sword.

They're coming along well all in all. Printed out Empire in Flames yesterday and am reading through that slowly. Hence getting inspired about the Carnival of Chaos too!

Also tonight I put together my five WIP terrain boards to see how they looked. Very exciting! Hope to get another one started at the weekend and give me enough scenery to have a dabble at learning the rules. Feel like a big kid again ;)

Yar, avast, etc

So following on from my comments about not being able to stay focussed, in the two days since I've ordered my possessed warband I've had to find something else to occupy my time. And these are the results.

Da Kabin Krew!

First up is Kaptin Kabin and his faithful (ish) shaman, Nuggit.

Kap'n Kabin is just a black reach nob with an ogre's sword (reshaped to be more scimitar like), and a big club for a counts-as morning star. The head as the black reach warboss's, so I've removed the bionics ready for an eye patch and bit hat. I'm also quite happy with the balsa peg leg :D
Nuggit is a normal orc boy with a cut down spear and slightly modified axe. His head is a cross between a boy and a night goblin.

Next up the Big 'Uns, Boz Un and Boz Wan.

They are one piece plastic boyz (not sure where from, another bits purchase), with slight arm changes and a couple of plasticard scimitars. They need tricorn hats obviously.

Then we have the henchmen. Firstly, Da Arra Krew.

Again one piece plastics with slight tweaks. Very happy with the guy on the right considering the source. Oh and lefty has a hook hand made from a bretonnian horn/flask/thing. They'll get bandanas.

Then Da Spika Krew:

These are normal boys with converted spears, one with a peg leg and one with a hook. These guys are also getting bandanas.

Finally Da Kab'n Runtz.

These are normal goblins, again will get bandanas. I love the guy on the left, blatantly saying "once I figure out how this works, you're gonna get it!", and the guy on the right looking up at one of the orcs getting his orders.

Hoping to start the sculpts today, shouldn't take too long. Kaptin's hat is the main point of concern as it'll make or break that piece. Everyone else is just tweaks and it's their paint work that'll sell them as pirates. Fingers crossed.

Reiklander's based

Very quick post about my Reiklanders, they now have their bases. Very cool little resin cobbled bases from Fenris on eBay. Great casts and I'm really happy with the results.

Just need my militia to arrive now and they can have some henchmen!

Canal Barge

Done some more work on the canal board. Spent a while sorting out the various boxes and crates and so on, they're now ready to be sprayed if the weather holds.

Not sure where I saw this tip, but I tried wood stain on my balsa wood and it seems to work really well. I've done the barge as you can see. If then had a light drybrush of bleached bone. The cabin needs the edges touching up (stain won't work if there's superglue present!), and then the tin roofs need washes.

But yeah, happy with that effect. Looks almost like wood. Stain gave me a headache though, worth doing outdoors I guess.

Possessed Warband

Whilst I wait for my free company box to arrive so I can complete my human mercenaries, I've planned out my next warband!

I'm going to do a Possessed band, initially based around cultists but with a view to add in beastmen at a later date.

I spent about an hour last night planning out the group, picking the miniatures and getting them ordered. Hopefully they'll all arrive next week!

The Magister is this Reaper cleric:

Unfortunately Reaper charge a bloody fortune to ship to the uk (the model is £3.19, shipping is £9) and it'll take 2-3 weeks. Sod that, found one on eBay for 4quid delivered. Woo. Going to change the left hand for a suitably evil looking sword (open to suggestions).

I've gone for 1 Possessed. Was going to do more but I like the idea of more cultists. After shopping around I came up with Mutant Grant from Hasslefree:

He's obviously intended to be modern, but I think with a slight change to the trousers and glove he'll be fine. He's got a Great Claw mutation of course!

Next is a Mutant, this time from Heresy:

He's the alternate head version of Sebastien, the hero emo-mage. I plan to remove an arm and give him a Tentacle mutation, then a small axe in the other hand. Should fit nicely with...

Two sets of 3 Bretheren. One lot have got spears, the others I'll convert to have bows/axe.

I've wanted to use the Tunnel Guard for ages and couldn't find a reason. I've gone for the random assortment of heads too to keep it interesting.

And if I've added up right the whole kaboodle is 500gc. And only cost about £25. Woo.

Pics and further details when they arrive.

Human Mercanaries

My first warband! Well technically my second, but the dwarfs seem to be stuck in limbo at the moment so we'll ignore them.

Not sure where these guys hail from yet, they're basically all my warhammer bits I've ever had (my 40k bits box is well, about ten boxes, wfb one teeny tiny tray), combined with a couple of dwarf bits.

The whole crew so far. I've got five henchmen, I think from Advanced Heroquest. I originally bought them to be statues, and I think they'll stay that way. I've got an Empire Free Company box on order from Wayland so that'll replace them.

The Captain, with a hammer and duelling pistol. Still needs highlights and his eyepatch colouring.

First Champion, with a sword and axe. Was really scraping the barrel for bits for him, he was the last one built. The axe is actually one of those frog-ended drumsticks with a dwarf hand axe head. Will see how good he looks when I get around to painting him.

Brother Furlong of the Mysterious Measuring Monks :). This guy has been around from the start, acting as a scale 'barry' for my scenery photos. Therefore he had to be in the first warband, only fitting. Sword and mace and too many pies.

Marksman with longbow. The quiver on his back is from the dwarfs, no idea what the rest is! Quite like him, looks sort of relaxed but ready to pounce.

And lastly the other marksman with dual pistols. My favourite model in the band so far. Again no idea what the constituent parts are, except for the pistols which come from the dwarfs. I'm told pistols aren't all that clever in Mordheim, but how cool does dual weilding look? Been a fan ever since Rise of the Triads wth the cheat code akimbo. Yes I'm old, shh.

That's it so far. All paint in progress, although the monk is nearly there.

Canal PIP & Crane

The painting of the canal warehouse board has begun. Really happy with the flagstones, still a little unconvinced by the tower. I might do another lighter coat to try and make a wider difference between the two surfaces.

You can also see in the above pictures I've started the roof. I've done the vertical gables and started the detailing on the hoist. All WIP at the moment of course.

Also done some work on the hamster crane. I realised when I had a proper look that it didn't really have the reach to get across the path at the side of the canal. Hrm. So I've mounted it on a small platform.

The small notch in the supporting beams sits over the raised edge of the canal sides. This means the platform hangs over the edge by about 2cm. Gives it enough clearance to reach the barge.

Also worked out how to attach the wheel to the main post, which I have done. And even added some little stairs for detail. I plan to surround this and the cart with sacks and boxes anyway so it should need much more detailing.

Modelling Mates review

I recently bought a set of Modelling Mates moulds from TerraScenic, they looked like a bargain at £21.60 so I thought I'd have a go.

The photo above shows what you get for your money. Three moulds, each one 6 1/2 inches square. One is of cubes, the other blocks twice the size of the cubes, and the final miscellaneous pieces.

The variety is great and the sheer number of pieces you get per mould means you won't be casting as often.

The moulds are made from EVA foam, which to me is the stuff on my golf trolley handle, but you may know it in other ways! It's a dense, flexible foam which seems rather sturdy. The base is a softer material which is glued to the main body.

A comparison with a basic Hirst Arts block is shown above. As you can see these blocks are much bigger and therefore not interchangable with HA. Based on the number per cast though I could see you building a small tower with only two or three casts of each mould.

The texture is very different. HA blocks are sculpted and very detailed, but the pattern on MM blocks comes from the foam itself. It reminds me of a fine concrete. Texture is on sides and bottom just as with HA blocks.

The casts require a small amount of cleaning. It appears the moulds where sliced to form the cavities, and in doing so there has been a small amount of over-cut. So each cast brick will have a few mm of plaster on each corner which can be removed with a single pass of a sharp knife.

Above is a photo of my current assembly, I'll get a complete photo when done. This is going to be the lighthouse of Stadtheim bay. The misc mould has three different radius curves on it, which will work nicely for me and offers good flexibility.

Overall I'd say they offer a cheap alternative to HA and will provide nice variety of texture for the terrain builder. I doubt these will last anything like as long as HA moulds (the base seems to deform slightly at each demoulding and I'm worried about tearing the foam at some of the weaker points), but for pure value for money you can't argue. Three moulds for the same prices as only 2/3s of a Hirst Arts one seems like too good a deal to me.

I'll post a finished model when I've got one, and let you know how I get on with the long term survivability of the moulds. In the meantime though I'd recommend giving them a look.

Mould making

Trying to cast my own windows. I built a couple of masters, seen in the photo below. Small windows the same size, one with the shutter closed one open. I then took a silicone cast (shown right) and am trying out casting.

Basically I'd like to avoid having to cast them all in resin, that stuff's expensive. With a bit of work the plaster results might be ok. They're prone to bubbling and the wire mesh needs the plaster brushing on to avoid a complete mess. When I perfect the technique I'll show the cast results. Then they'll go in the tavern and all will be shiny.

Fountains

A couple of fountains I'm working on. These are really just to let me test out water effects for the canal, but should work out ok none the less.

Really struggling with my limited hirst arts moulds collection. Need to buy the round turret mould I think to make stuff like this easier.

The first will have a statue, I'm tempted to try for it spraying water but get the feeling that might be running before I can sit upright.

Not sure about the owls on the second, they're just balanced at the moment. It ties into the whole owl theme of the church, and the goddess Verena. With a texture they might work, the fact they're very low detailed lego pieces could work for partially eroded stone. Dunno..

Canal Warehouse

The canal board has been getting most of my attention recently. It was the small cargo barge that actually brought me back to Stadtheim from my 40k projects.

The warehouse is now up to roof level, the main doorway at the top will have a crane jib above to lower goods to passing vessels. The back door opens on street level. There's a wooden stairway to get to the goods doorway. Then a small door opens on each side at the lower street level.

When I came back to this I noticed the tower was well out of shape. Somehow it'd grown about 1/4 inch at the back. I decided to stick with this, hopefully with a slightly skewed roof it'll look ramshackle rather than badly built! We shall see.

The details for this board are shown below:

The first is the barge, with a couple of Antenociti's crates and currently a single Renedra barrel. I'm going to do a couple of large crate piles covered with tarps (saves money :D).

Second photo shows the in progress crane which will be loading goods to the barge. Human hamster power ftw.

Thrd is a very quick cart I built today. Not bad for half an hour's work. It's a bit rough but I like it that way.

I'm hoping this will be the first complete board, though I may not do the water until all the canal boards are sorted. That way I can make sure they're all the same.