The Grimy Jewel Campaign: Session 4 Report

Here's the action from a recent session of our Song of Blades & Heroes campaign, written in glorious narrative fashion by new club member Joe!

In retaliation for last harvest season's peasant uprising instigated by Bishop Stuka's outlaws none less than Burggraf Wallenstein of Vildeburg himself dispatched Ritter Ludvig VonDraken to bring the holy man and misguided followers to heel. Ritter VonDraken's lads pursued the fleeing cleric to a questionable tavern on the edge of town.

"How many peasant hovels did we torch during the rebellion?" the knight asked the other armored horseman. Custrel Berndt Schnitzel only smiled grimly and nodded in response. "War without arson...is like sausage without mustard!" bellowed VonDraken. "Fetch your tinderbox, boy, we'll make up firebrands!"

The page-boy, Willi, rapidly set about the task, and soon every knight had a burning torch in hand. Confidently they marched directly towards the inn, except for Custrel Schnitzel. He galloped his horse on a wide left flank, flaming brand casting twisted shadows on the derelict houses.

Just as VonDraken and his three halberdiers passed under an arch, the Bishop sprung his trap!

Three outlaw knights rushed from the shadows and hacked VonDraken from his horse, and the rest of the Bishop's men poured from the inn like rats from a sewer. Some of the leaderless soldiers began to edge away...but not Berndt Schnitzel. The Custrel was no coward! He would show those bastards how to burn a building down! Just as Schnitzel rounded the corner, torch in hand, he noticed a glowing halo about the priest's head as the old fool kept babbling some prayer... The mounted knight's jaw went slack and as his eyes began to roll Ridley Boughdodger rode up and knocked the Custrel from his horse and into unconsciousness.

One of VonDraken's crossbowmen managed to send a quarrel whistling through Brother Roberto's robe, knocking him down. But when the henchmen saw both armored horsemen go down, things began to unravel. One of the crossbowmen, a weakling from Vildeburg no doubt, soiled himself and ran off crying. Willi fell back with the standard trying to rally the faltering warband upon him.

The Bishop's three knights, Sires Chopenblok, Dogget and Hakkenslosh, pressed VonDraken's halberdiers, knocking one to the ground. Being tough mountaineers from the Valkenrath Palisades, they refused to yield. "Spank me with your distaff again, granny," the fallen man jeered. "I seen yer mum's arse," shouted another. Junker Monika Frohlich, now in command, had seen enough. "Retreat, run like hell!" came the cry.

-- Joe, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Shipping Containers from Micro Machines Playsets

A while back I came across a bag of old Micro Machine playsets at a resale shop. They were largely incomplete, but the bag contained 11 of them and the price was great, so I picked them up as a basis for sci-fi shipping containers. In their original form they would have looked something like this.

(Picture via Toys from the Past)

After cleaning off any stickers, I clipped off the hinges and glued them shut. They're a very nice size, being tall enough to completely conceal a 28mm miniature or even a small vehicle, but thin enough to not take up too much space on the tabletop.

The round details are status markers from the Sedition Wars game that are meant to stack under the bases of the miniatures.

The logo details are mutation markers from the same game.

I used a heavy coat of "Magic Wash" (Future Floor Polish and paint) to weather these. I'm not entirely pleased with the results, as it's almost too dirty and drippy. If I use Magic Wash in the future, I'll probably use ink rather than paint. Still, the results are quite serviceable. I have three each of three different types, each type painted in a different manner.

They are pretty stable and can be stacked to make a rather impressive tower.

I also kitbashed a flatbed transport truck from various toy parts and a removable double container.

Again I'm not entirely pleased with the Magic Wash, but it looks fine on the tabletop.

These are a welcome addition to my sci-fi scatter terrain collection. They've already seen use in Necromunda and Mech Attack and I'm sure that's just the beginning.

-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

The Exchange with Mattias, Part 2: Escher Gang

Before his departure to Hawaii, Mattias and I arranged a trade of terrain and miniatures. Earlier I showed off the buildings and cliffs that I built for him. Today I've got 15 Necromunda figures that he painted for me. All but one of these are unmodified Games Workshop Escher figures, based on Inkwell Industries resin bases.

The smaller size pics don't do these justice so I've uploaded large versions of each. If you really want to see them close up, go ahead and "open in new tab" any of these images to see the figs in their full glory.

Juves
The lowly cannon fodder of the gang. I had asked for a variety of skin tones. In Mattias' unique grayscale-based painting style, this results in a range from an elfin pale to a shadowed grey.

Ranged Weapon Gangers

At first I was a bit confused by the somewhat monochrome bases, but now I think it's really a nice unifying effect.

More Gangers and Heavies 
Note the great sludgy wet effects. Most of the figures have a bit of it on their bases, but it's particularly notable here. Also, I'm really glad to have the plasma gun figure. The weapon is a nice in-between size that could easily be work as a plasma or heavy plasma gun.

Close Combat and Leader Figures
Very glad to have the iconic (and now ridiculously expensive) "Mad Donna Ulanti" figure as seen on the right. Also, the figure on the far left is not Games Workshop and has a rather interesting history. The original sculpt was a "Mutant Dominatrix" in the Shockforce game. Mega Minis (now Johnnyborg) acquired the rights and re-released her in a slightly resculpted form without her mutant characteristics (gills, tail, etc) and this was the example I acquired.

Unfortunately, the arms and hands were just terrible, so I chopped them off just below the elbows and attached the arms from a Heroclix Elektra figure, with a Necromunda autogun attached. She also has a Rogue Trader-era bolt pistol holster on her right leg. I think she fits in pretty well, and for those interested, she is still available here. 

As a bonus, here's a neat figure I picked up from Mattias when he was selling off a few of his painted figures. Lots of potential uses for him (cultist, mage, mutant, you name it) in a variety of genres, but I particularly thought that in Necromunda he could be a Wyrd, which is a sort of independent magic user. He scales pretty well with an average ganger. Not sure of the manufacturer, but I'm pretty sure he's a vintage sculpt of some sort.

Lastly, my pictures have made the paint jobs slightly more muted than they appear in real life. Here's a shot with flash that washes out the figs a bit, but still shows off a bit more of the contrasts and certain details and reveals the wet effects on the bases.

And there you have it! Fifteen excellently painted Escher figs with enough variety to cover most any gang arrangements. I'm very happy to have these, as the Escher have long been favorites of mine, but I never felt that my dip-based painting style would have been appropriate for these sculpts.

-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

The Grimy Jewel Campaign: Session 3 Report

Kevin and I met up last week to play the "Swordfight" scenario from Hour 11's book of Song of Blades and Heroes scenarios as part of our ongoing campaign.

Our warbands met while exploring some long-forgotten ruins and barrows now overgrown by forest.  The photos here are from early in the game, as our warriors race to explore six burial mounds.

Each warband suffered a few turnovers early in the game, but later got to encounter the mounds -- and each other. Over the course of the game, about 25 spirits of this fallen chaotic community were awoken, attacking the explorers and generally detaining them with grasping claws.

Eventually, my elven priest of autumn was able to avoid the dead things to get away with a magical artifact.

Rolling on Mattias's Arcane and Deadly Objects table, I found my artifact to be a Twisted Circlet -- a chaotic crown that may inspire or ruin one member of my warband. After the escaping the undead, Kevin's warband found a keg of ale mysteriously preserved in the ruins. My warband then encountered another spirit, this one of a hero who fought against the disturbed chaotic entities when they were all alive. As an atonement for enraging the otherwise contained chaos, my warband pledged to take on a mission on behalf of the fallen hero.

-- Tim, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Game Day & Benefit for Sean

Our friend Sean Atkins, owner of Brainstorm Comics in Chicago, was recently diagnosed with cancer, so mark your calendars for Sept. 12, when you'll have a great opportunity to play games, buy stuff and support Sean at his upcoming benefit.

The event -- which will feature games run by several Chicago Skirmish Wargames club members -- starts at noon Saturday, Sept. 12 at Brainstorm Comics, 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 321 (that's the third floor of the Flatiron Building). They'll have raffle tickets for $1 (drawings held every half hour) as well as demos of board games and miniature games. Also: baked goods!

Email Matt at matthewsears81@gmail.com to buy raffle tickets or if you have any questions about the benefit. If you just want to support Sean, click here for his GiveForward page. Otherwise, if you're in Chicago, we'll see you on Sept. 12!

Necromunda Campaign: Lower Wacker Hive, Session #3

Last month, while Josh and Pat and were playing The Dogs & The Dust, Ian and I put together a Necromunda game. Ian's Delaque "Spectres" faced off against my Van Saar "Fjord's Folly."

On the right flank, Fjord led half his gang across a viaduct.

On the opposite side, the Spectres advanced through some ruined habs.

The Delaque didn't stay in the habs for long, and with the support of their heavy stubber, they quickly seized the center of the board.

Unfortunately for them, the center of the board was also prime pickings for Gunborg and his hunting rifle.

Back on the right flank, the Spectres and the Folly battled back and forth. Eventually the Folly pushed the Spectres back.

Though the Folly were successful, it was a somewhat hollow victory. Injured juve "Ove" was captured by the Spectres and promptly sold to slavers. Despite Fjord's Folly's ongoing string of bad luck, I'm continuing to enjoy this campaign. The rules, opponents, figures, terrain and scenarios have all been great! What more could a gamer want?

-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Fully Painted: Flesh Mutants and Sci-Fi Objective Markers

A couple of months ago I was on a big STALKER kick -- playing the game every evening and browsing some of the excellent, inspiring work that folks are doing on the tabletop to bring this oddball genre to life.

Along the way I uncovered a pile of Sedition Wars Strain figures that I had acquired from Karl last year and promptly forgot about. I decided to give them a quick and dirty paintjob so they can serve as mutants and/or rad zombies for my post-apocalyptic games.

I used just three colors for the figures -- flesh tone, army drab for the pants, and a couple spots of yellow to highlight the weeping sores on the bodies. Then, of course, they got the dip, which brought everything together nicely. They won't win any awards, but they don't look half bad for an evening's work. You can see more pics of the mutants in action in our recent battle report.

Along with the mutants, I also finished off a half dozen resin objective markers. Originally designed and sold for Dystopian Wars, the markers are like little mini-dioramas with all sorts of nifty details, perfect for sci-fi or post-apocalyptic games.

That's it for now -- back to the workbench!

-- Patrick, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member