Wednesday 30 September 2015

Frostgrave

The latest game on my radar is Osprey's Frostgrave, a skirmish game set in a magical frozen city.



I'm steadily gathering and painting some figures and will probably sort out some terrain too.  I considered purchasing some 'official' figures, but before I did I went rooting about in my bits boxes to see what I could rustle up and its safe to say I found some (in some cases very) old figures that I thought would be quite good.  Here's the result.

The collection so far.  Lots of options!



I'm planning a Necromancer coterie first and here's the man himself.  This is a bit of a kit-bash using an old Games Workshop Necromunda figure with the gun removed and replaced with a staff (made from a Games Workshop High Elf banner and a skull).  He appears to be a bit of a firebrand!



The Necromancer's apprentice.  This is another simple conversion, using the Games Workshop Lord of the Rings figure for Grima Wormtongue.  I simply drilled through the model to make room for a staff (brass rod topped with skull).
I like this figure.



This chap will do for a soldier or maybe a knight or something.  This is an old Citadel miniature from back in the 1980's/1990's.  Its a model from the Lone Wolf range Citadel did back then, based on the Lone Wolf Books by Joe Dever and Gary Chalk.  I've a feeling this was a 'Summerlund Knight' or something?



I think this chap is from the same range.

He looks like this Gary Chalk drawing.



Aha!  One of my favourite Citadel/GW models of all time!  I've had this model for a very long time and never found a use for him.  This is from when GW dwarves were some of the best most characterful figures (unlike the modern horrors).
I think he'll make a good barbarian!




I'm not sure where this figure came from.  Grenadier maybe?  He's quite small and is obviously a monk of some sort.  I thought he'd make a good apothecary.  I tried to paint him to look like he'd suffered some sort of disease...but it just looks like a rough paintjob close up!.  Hehe...


I think this one was some sort of 'special character' (maybe a limited edition?) for Games Workshop's disconinued and excellent Mordheim skirmish game.  Black and red seems the only way to go for him.  I tried to put a bit of a pattern on the inside of his cloak.



Ah, now...this one's interesting.  It's GW again but this is from their original Lord of the Rings range that they produced back in the late 1980's/early 1990's i think.  This is Strider (Aragorn).  He came in a pack with a mounted version of him two, but i haven't painted it because, a) Frostgrave doesn't have rules for mounted warriors, and b) I already cannibalised that figure for something else.  
He was crying out for a muted 'forest camo' paintscheme.



Note sure who made this figure, but its a gnoll.  From the 'plastic shield on metal knob' design, I'd say that's a 1990's Games Workshop thing?  Makes a decent Frostgrave archer I think.



Manufacturer?  No idea.  Grenadier again maybe?  Not sure what it's supposed to be either, but it looks suitable rough and mercenary - the sort of monster that would hire itself out to a Necromancer to go searching some long-lost ruins.



Yeah.  GW modern plastic skeleton.  How far their models have fallen?  Still, I had it in the bottom of a box I recently acquired so it's found a use.



OK, so...these wonderful little fellows are 'Giaks', the Lone Wolf setting's version of goblins/orcs.  Lovely little sculpts I think.  They'll make great thieves and thugs for Frostgrave.


Added a plastic shield...



Not sure about where these two came from, but they're jolly characterful goblin types so they'll go into the 'thug' pool.



And these last two are anybody's guess!  

This one will be used either as a summoned imp or small construct.  It is actually poorly cast with minimal feature definition, so I tried to paint it to look like it was sill forming and sort of dripping wet with blood and magical juices!




And this little thing is clearly an imp!  Again it's badly cast.




So, that's a start to the Frostgrave thing.  Next I'll need some treasure tokens, animals and wandering monsters, and of course some terrain!




Tuesday 22 September 2015

What's in the box?

So this weekend I acquired a box of figures for about £10 and found some interesting things in there.


A couple of tubs containing 20 Games Workshop Tyranid Genestealers!  I like these models, and I already have a project in mind for which these will come in very handy.





There's also a bunch of bits and bobs.



Not sure what these sci fi tanks are or who makes them.  Also I'm not sure what I'll use them for (if anything), but they're very nice.



These I will find a use for though.  Not sure what they are, but they're hard plastic gribblies which will, I suspect, make it onto a Warband base or two.








And languishing in the bottom of the box, a bit of a score!  Some historical figures.  Now there are clearly Iron Age figures and on first glance I assumed they are Gauls.





On closer inspection though...not sure.  These are clearly 'true' 28mm figures, but I'm not yet sure of the manufacturer.  I suspect there are figures from various ranges here.  

21 riders.  Gauls?  Picts?  Germans?  Does it matter?




A mix of archers and one crossbowman.  the crossbow makes me think picts, but these look more like Germans to me.



A few of the figures have a 'Suebian knot'  hairstyle, which backs up the 'German' view.  



Some casualties.  'Dying Gauls'?  Not with a Suebian knot...



Shields.  Hmm...the mix of round, square, and 'H' shields remind me of Picts. 



Some commanders.



Looking distinctly 'Roman foederati'?



A bunch of cloaked spearmen which remind me of the Scandinavian 'Gerum' cloak but could equally be Pictish?



I don't know.  Overall, these generally feel Germanic to me.  What do you think?

EDIT: They're Wargames Foundry Picts.


Of course I could just use them as Dunlendings for Lord of the Rings.  Hehe...

However, with Warband historical under development, Dux Bellorum, and a couple of other historical options available, I'll have to have a good think about what to use these for.