A Mixed Bag.....

A bit of a quick hit......

First off, my copy of In Her Majesty's Name finally arrived. Quality is top notch with some beautiful illustrations.

With a quick thumb through the rules the games appears fast and fun! Jet and are planning to give the game a try next week. I'll have a follow up post with our thoughts from our initial findings.

Over the last week I was able to spend some time at painting table. I didn't complete as many projects as I would have liked but I did dabble in a number of them.

One of the items I was able to semi-compete were the fortified walls for the manor. These didn't take to long to paint, mostly a quick dry brush of black to white.

The doors were based with GW Scorched Brown to a dry brush of a mix with GW Bleached Bone. I plan on revisiting these walls and picking out some of the details to give them more character.

I also started in on my GW Garden of Morr kit. I obtained this kit in a trade on Bartertown and I am extremely glad I did. For the type of games we usually play these terrain pieces will get some heavy use.

The first item I started was the sketelal warrior statue. The statue itself was in two pieces and then joined to the base. With a quick bit of green stuff and some filing the item was complete.

To keep with the dark dreadful look, I did a dry brush of black to white. I will be revisiting the stature to pick out some of the details such as the skulls, dirt, vegetation, etc.

I completed the assembly of the mausoleums and painted their bases as well. But I will have a post in the future to cover the Garden and will reveal those pictures then.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

All along the Watchtower...

I decided to change gears and work on some terrain. Specifically the Games-Workshop Warhammer Watchtower. The kit was fairly easy to put together but did require a lot sculpting and green-stuff to fill some of the gaps.

I decided to use a similar color scheme to that of GW's preference. Two others in our gaming group whom have the tower completed, went with a grey/brownish stone look. This way mine would be a good contrast.

The watchtower comes with a smaller "shed" building which I thought would be great to use as a test subject.

With the pilot out of the way, I was happy with the results and decided to move on to the main tower.

The "wall" areas were base coated with GW Vomit Brown. This was then followed by a wash of GW Gryphon Sepia. Once the wash dried, a dry brush of GW Dheneb Stone was applied. There was a lot of overlap from the dry-brushing which was cleaned up with a reapplication of GW Chaos Black.

After this was completed I dry-brushed the stone with GW Chardon Granite, followed by a light brush of Dhebed Stone.


The stone work was dry-brushed with GW Chardon Granite to GW Dhedeb Stone and the metal areas were brushed with GW Boltgun metal.

I still had a few viewable lines from my "green stuff" areas which I was wanted to hide. Being a watchtower I thought it was only fitting to add some overgrowth to the tower.

I'm not 100% sold on the look yet, and will probably revisit to to adjust. But I think its a start. Maybe a little more growth around the base and connecting up.

In other news I came across a new ruleset called "In Her Majesty's Name" which I quickly ordered.

The game takes place in the late Victorian period around 1895 with a steampunk feeling. To quote the game blog site;


"It is a world of heroism, sacrifice and betrayal.  Where the Great Powers, building upon the advances wrought by the success of Charles Babbage’s calculating engines, have advanced faster than one might have thought.  Where ownership of the latest technological marvel might just be the thing to build fortunes, destroy empires and win fair ladies.  Where a few men’s pluck and cunning can change the course of history."

Suffice to say Jet and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival to give the rules a go. With our Chaos in Carpathia collections we would have no problem building a few companies for the game.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

Riddle me this, riddle me that...

Where has the time gone! Back in April I was gearing up for our next adventure of Delves and the rest was a blur! It is crazy how time can pass so quickly.

The month of May was engulfed with a first time family visit to Orlando, specifically Disneyland.
 

This was then followed by the conclusion of a three year project at work and of course, the opening of the Atlantic Salmon season. This summer season has definitely been a busy one.


Now that the whirlwind has calmed down I am able to get back to the bench from time to time. Progress has been slow, but I am making progress none the less.

One of the items I have been able to complete was another baddie for our Delves game, scheduled for the fall.

Goal System Delves at its core wreaks of classic fantasy adventure. As I have said before the game is a wonderful throw back to everyone's AD&D days. With that being said what would a classic adventure be without a riddling Sphinx.

P.s. I promise the next post will not take as long as this one.

As always thanks for reading,


Tenz

Delves Update: Flesh Golem and Kataria the Halfling.

A bit of a quick update. We have planned the next adventure of Delves for May 4th and it seems all involved are growing quite excited. I have been steadily preparing and creating the needed items for the adventure.

The adventure is going to a throw back to all our RPG roots, taking us back to the "good ole days". There will be a mix of "hack n' slash" and troubling puzzles and riddles.

Here is a sneak peak of some of the models I'll be using for the next adventure.

First up is my rendition of the Flesh Golem.

This is another model from the World of Warcraft Board game by Fantasy Flight Games. He painted up quite nicely and I am happy with the results.

Next we have Kataria the Halfling, another model that was sculpted for Goal System Delves. Suffice to say the players will learn that help can come from the smallest of places.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

Pulp Alley: Shiva's Chosen, Keepers of the North

Over the past while I have been steadily painting models terrain and the like. I have a few irons in the fire with my interested in Pulp Alley and gearing up for my next game of Delves. For today I figured I would focus on my new Pulp Alley league. The Keepers of the North.

Since the beginning of time Shiva, the Empress of Ice, goddess of cold has protected the great frozen plains of the earth, keeping the elemental balance in check. For every good there is a bad, for every night there is a day, for every desert there is a tundra.

Their are many mysteries and myths surrounding the arctic expanse. Many ancient powers and secrets have been told to lie hidden deep within the northern region. Explorers bitten with curse of curiosity have come and gone and those seeking riches have fell to the same fate. But yet they keep returning.....As long as they do the Keepers of the North will be there to protect the secrets that lie within.

For this league I wanted to create a more "feral" type of league. As you can see from my abilities they are melee machines. They hit hard and fast. I suspect they will have problems with some perils but I chose the abilities more in the favor of fluff then practicality.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

Pulp Alley AAR: Liberators met The MaoTaa

When we last left our heroes Cap't Grant and his Liberators were unable to foil the plans of the Crimson Professor and the Sinister Syndicate. Vladimir Vrex was able to obtain the plutonium needed for his skelebot upgrades. The massing of his army for a global takeover will soon be complete.

In Vrexs escape with his cache, Gregarious was able to capture one of the Syndicate's skelebots. Calling on one of his many contacts he was able to obtain some valuable information from the memory banks of the evil automation...... The location of Vrex's secret lair!

Wasting no time The Liberators boarded the "Liberation" plane and headed to coordinates located deep within the German Black Forest.

Little did Grant know but Vrex was one step ahead and planted the coordinates as trap! The Liberators were about to engage the crazed cult of The MaoTaa....

Liberators vs The MaoTaa

The Scenario was Race against time. For flavor we decided The MaoTaa would be the defenders and Grant and his Liberators would be the attackers, stumbling on the cult preforming an ancient ritual.

The MaoTaa were deployed around the main plot point which was the altar in the center of the table.

Grant was deployed to the southeast of the alter with the aid of his hobo whom he befriended in his travels. Lester would later join them as we made a small error in the deployment.

The rest of the Liberators (excluding Lester) advanced over the bridge to the east of the Altar.

Turn 1

The MaoTaa activated first sending Aron the Fanatic who launched his Alchemist Fire at the Liberators. Only to have them all stave off the perilous blast.

Azular raced to the old grey bird to listen to its secrets next turn.

Three of the Fallen headed southeast to head off Grant and tarpit his advance.

Grax and the rest of The Fallen advanced towards main charge of the Liberators. While Abuhar started his incantation of shadows. (Successfully completing the first of three plot point challenges).

Spider, Monique and Yuri activated within the burst of the Alchemist fire. All were unscathed except for Spider who could not combat the peril. Yuri jumped the bridge into cover firing at the guardian wounding him and taking the initiative.

Monique used her "burst fire" to target two of the fallen, returning them to the ground from where they came.

Lester advanced firing at The Fallen only to have his bullets ring through the hallow skeletons. The deadly accuracy of the undead arrows would prove to much from Lester. (Initiative returns to MaoTaa) The befriended hound charged the undead but The Fallen's blade to end the animals existence. Grant moved towards the plot point hidden in the old shack and took a shot at the lifeless Fallen. But his gun would jam in the frosty climate of the black forest.

Turn 2  
Recovery checks were made for Grax and Spider. Grax was able to recovery while Spider was not.

 Azular heeded the chaotic wisdom of the old three-eyed bird discovering a plot point.

The Fallen moved towards Monique while those with ranged were able to wound the Liberator ally. Abuhar continued his incantation succeeding at the second challenge. The rest of The Fallen back pedaled towards Abuhar, to protect against the interruption of the process.

Not to be counted out Yuri engaged the guardian Grax with both being wounded in the process.

Capt Grant rushed the melee undead crushing its bones into the ground.

Turn 3
Grax and Yuri attempted there recovery checks with Grax recovering (Rough night on the dice for Jet)

Aron the Fanatic launched its Alchemist fire at Yuri who evaded the peril dodging out of combat. In a turn of fortunes, "Just reward" was played giving the Liberators the initiative. Yuri activated and searched the grave to find a plot point. Grant advanced and fired at one of the ranged Fallen taking it out.

The other ranged Fallen would fire back at Grant, but the return fire would be to much of a gamble and to dust it returned. Another Fallen would rush to the aid of Abuhar. Grax again engaged Yuri dropping him unconscious. Azular ran to an old wood cellar to find the hidden contents inside.

Abuhar attempted the 3rd and final challenge only to be stumped on this attempt.

Turn 4
Yuri attempted his recovery check and passed returning to D6

With the initiative Grant activated first with plans to charge Abuhar, but his fortune would not be so as he "tripped up" in the process. Yuri tried to claim the cache he previously held but was unable to pass the challenge.

Azular searched the old wood shed finding the hidden Tome of Shadows and the award of a plot point.  Grax and Aron continued to target Yuri wounding him unconscious.Abuhar attempted the final challenge and completed the incantation.

Turn 5
Yuri yet again had to make a recovery check but was unable to overcome his wounds and would remain down.

Aron turned his attention to Grant and targeted him with the fire, but the rugged veteran would be un-phased by the attack. Abuhar called upon Ahzool's blessing and took on his image to protect the annihilator's gift.

Grant made his final attempts on the madden cultist but would be unable to pry Ahzool's gift from the acolytes hands.

 The game ended with The MaoTaa in control of the main plot point and two others. The Liberators would survive with no plot points.

"The madden hackles of Ahzool could be heard deep within the soul of Gregerious Grant. Which shook the Liberator to his core..."

This game was our first test with the reanimated rule. We found the ability a little powerful when matching dice. We have decided to play the rule that you are unable to match dice with this ability which in turn makes the ability more in line to what it should be.


As always thanks for reading,

Tenz

 

Pulp Alley: The MaoTaa

Over the weekend I decided I wanted to make a new a league for Pulp Alley, enter The MaoTaa. 

The MaoTaa or The Madden Acolytes of The Annihilator Ahzool  have but one goal in life, the release of their dark god. The Prophesy of Shadows from the Grimoire of Azhara explains how Ahzool imprisoned himself only to be released on the chosen day of rebirth. On this day all existence will be annihilated only to be reborn, new and in his crazed image. To deem his followers worthy and the day of the rebirth to be true, his worshipers must earn the gift of his return by finding the "key" to his release. This has lead the MaoTaa across the world in search of a way to release Ahzool.

The MaoTaa do their masters bidding without question or regard for their own life. For Ahzool is the Annihilator of all things and will bring a rebirth to all existence. They follow no mortal and listen only to the many voices of Azhool.

Abuhar is revered by the rest of the MaoTaa as he is the only follower to enter the Halls of Madness and return. He is believed to have been touched by Azhool and granted his dark blessing.

Azular is the reflection of complete chaos. His devotion to Azhool is unmatched in the MaoTaa. He was able to unlock the reason within the masters madness. This is turn made him a powerful acolyte.

The Fallen are gifts from Azhool, reanimated in his image to aid in their search for the answer to his release.

I decided to use the Mastermind perk as I pictured the MaoTaa following direction directly from Azhool and the many madden voices in their head heehee. They are mad after all so their strength would be in numbers.  Overlord added the flavor I was looking to achieve with extra followers to aid the cause. Reanimated was a given to aid the undead gifts of Azhool. I wanted to have a few chosen members of the MaoTaa and Company of Heroes did exactly that. 

I am hoping to post a report later this week of the Liberators first encounter with the MaoTaa.

As always thanks for reading,

Tenz