Thursday 27 June 2013

Egyptian Warband Roster

The cult of Anubis, the death god, has grown strong in Egypt under the influence of Persia. The inhabitants of its ancient pyramids stir and venture forth from the realm of the dead. Nor are the men of Egypt idle: Pharoah's human armies are also ready for war.

If you haven't played with these rules before this is what you need to know: a low quality value is good because you need to roll over it on a d6. A high Combat value is good because you add it to a d6 roll. Special rules generally do what the name implies.

A starting warband is 300 points and you can't spend more than 100pts on personalities.The point limit will increase as the campaign progresses.

New units will also appear throughout the campaign.


Awakened Pharaoh - Personality
Points 95Quality 2+Combat 4
Special RulesMagic-User, Undead
Those pharaohs who have returned from the dead are amongst the most powerful magicians in the world.
Egyptian Archer
Points 17Quality 5+Combat 2
Special RulesDesert Walk, Shooter: Medium
Archery is the Egyptians' preferred form of combat.
Egyptian Chariot
Points 50Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesGood Shot, Long Move, Mounted, Shooter: Medium
Charioteers race across the battlefield firing arrows at the enemy.
Egyptian Priest of Anubis - Personality
Points 40Quality 3+Combat 1
Special RulesNecromancer
The sinister priests of the death god have been key allies of the Persians.

Egyptian Priest of Thoth - Personality
Points 45Quality 2+Combat 1
Special RulesCoward, Magic-User
The servants of the god of magic are reluctant warriors but effective nonetheless.

Egyptian Warrior
Points 13Quality 5+Combat 2
Special RulesDesert Walk
Egyptian soldiers are numerous if unspectacular warriors.

Giant Scorpion
Points 30Quality 4+Combat 3
Special RulesAnimal, Huge, Poison
These unnaturally large scorpions give even the most fearsome warriors pause.


Honoured Commander - Personality
Points 48Quality 3+Combat 1
Special RulesLeader, Shooter: Medium
Leading troops for the Pharaoh is a great honour but few courtiers are personally accomplished warriors.
Mummified Guardian
Points 36Quality 3+Combat 3
Special RulesUndead
Those who have sworn to guard a Pharaoh beyond death are deadly enemies.
Pharaoh - Personality
Points 60Quality 2+Combat 1
Special RulesLeader, Shooter: Medium
Revered as a god by his people, the Pharaoh is an exceptional leader.
Royal Guard
Points 26Quality 3+Combat 2
Special RulesSteadfast
The best troops in Egypt, these soldiers are highly trained and extremely brave.
Skeleton Archer
Points 26Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesShooter: Medium, Undead
Animated by the dark gifts of Anubis, skeletons are surprisingly effective warriors.


Skeleton
Points 20Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesUndead
Animated by the dark gifts of Anubis, skeletons are surprisingly effective warriors.

Celt Warband Roster

Drawn by the dire warnings of their shamans who realise the danger that Xerxes poses to the world many Celtic warbands have travelled south to seek glory in battle against this legendary empire. The prospect of large amounts of booty have also proved a powerful attraction.

If you haven't played with these rules before this is what you need to know: a low quality value is good because you need to roll over it on a d6. A high Combat value is good because you add it to a d6 roll. Special rules generally do what the name implies.

A starting warband is 300 points and you can't spend more than 100pts on personalities.The point limit will increase as the campaign progresses.

New units will also appear throughout the campaign.

Special Rule: Individualistic
Celts are a tribal people and lack the discipline of more civilised armies. A Celtic warband need not include a Leader although it must include at least one personality.

All miniatures linked to can be ordered from the Gamers Guild.
Cave Bear
Points 40Quality 3+Combat 4
Special RulesAnimal, Big
Cave bears are fearsome creatures who lumber into battle at the bidding of the Druids. Miniatures can be found here.
Celtic Beserker
Points 27Quality 4+Combat 3
Special RulesSavage
Some warriors suffer a terrible battle frenzy. Their mad charges can break an enemy battle line with their ferocity.
Celtic Cavalry
Points 39Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesLong Move, Mounted
Speed is something that the Celts value and a good horseman is a useful warrior.
Celtic Chariot
Points 48Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesDashing, Long Move, Mounted, Savage
Particularly skilled warriors take the battle to the enemy in chariots.
Celtic Chieftain - Personality
Points 50Quality 4+Combat 3
Special RulesDashing, Leader
Tough and canny fighters, chieftains lead their men for glory and plunder.
Celtic Warleader - Personality
Points 72Quality 3+Combat 3
Special RulesDashing, Fearless, Hero
Not every celtic leader concerns himself with the subtleties of strategy, some are simply peerless killers whom men will follow into the very jaws of hell.
Celtic Warrior
Points 13Quality 5+Combat 2
Special RulesDashing
Celtic warriors have a preferred tactic: Charge!
Druid - Personality
Points 46Quality 3+Combat 1
Special RulesEnchanter, Forester
These nature priests have called the most powerful creatures of the natural world to join the battle against Xerxes' apocalyptic goals.
Mammoth - Personality
Points 84Quality 3+Combat 5
Special RulesAnimal, Huge, Tough
Large, woolly and with monstrous tusks, mammoths trample the enemies of nature beneath their feet. Miniatures can be found here.
Wolf / Warhound
Points 26Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesAnimal, Long Move
Wolves and warhounds are popular pets amongst the celts. Outsiders often can't tell the difference. You can find miniatures for wolves and warhounds at the linked pages.

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Persian Warband Roster

The God King Xerxes has determined to conquer the insolent Greeks and overthrow their pathetic gods. He has already succeeded in recruiting the foul children of the Titans and is close to setting the immortals themselves free. 


If you haven't played with these rules before this is what you need to know: a low quality value is good because you need to roll over it on a d6. A high Combat value is good because you add it to a d6 roll. Special rules generally do what the name implies.

A starting warband is 300 points and you can't spend more than 100pts on personalities.The point limit will increase as the campaign progresses.

New units will also appear throughout the campaign.


Cyclops - Titan Spawn
Points 68Quality 3+Combat 4
Special RulesHuge, Mountaineer, Shooter: Long
These one-eyed giants throw rocks at their enemies or simply pund them with clubs if they get close enough.
Ghoul
Points 24Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesPoison, Undead
Foul, stinking undead who feed on the bodies of the living. Deeply unpopular with Xerxes' human soldiers.
Harpy - Titan Spawn
Points 48Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesDistract, Flying
These winged monsters are able to enchant their enemies with their songs.
Immortal Commander (Wraith) - Personality
Points 72Quality 3+Combat 3
Special RulesFree Disengage, Leader, Undead
Xerxes' best commanders never perish, instead they rise from the dead to serve him again.
Immortal Footsoldier (Wraith)
Points 24Quality 4+Combat 3
Special RulesHeavy Armor, Slow, Undead
These elite Persian soldiers have sworn an oath to server Xerxes beyond death.
Minotaur - Titan Spawn - Personality
Points 86Quality 3+Combat 4
Special RulesHero, Huge, Savage
Huge and virtually unstoppable as they butcher their way through their enemies, Minotaurs are truly fearsome foes.
Persian Archer
Points 14Quality 5+Combat 2
Special RulesShooter: Medium
Persian bowmen serve the God King loyally but reluctantly alongside his monsters.
Persian Cavalry
Points 39Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesLong Move, Mounted
The nobles of Persia fight from horseback bringing much needed mobility to their army.
Persian Satrap - Personality
Points 40Quality 3+Combat 1
Special RulesLeader
Pampered but effective commanders who direct Xerxes' armies in his absence.
Persian Magus - Personality
Points 40Quality 3+Combat 1
Special RulesMagic-User
Scholars and wise men the Magi have been forced by Xerxes to serve his dark ends.

Persian Necromancer - Personality
Points 42Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesNecromancer, Undead
Those Magi who refused to serve Xerxes in life now serve him in death, adding more living corpses to his armies.
Persian Spearman
Points 13Quality 5+Combat 2
Special RulesPoison
Persian warriors are reluctant combatants but equip their weapons with poisons to help bring sown superior troops.

Zombie
Points 9Quality 6+Combat 4
Special RulesSlow, Undead
Whilst the newly dead are not terribly reliable warriors there is an almost unending supply of them in Xerxes Persia.







Greek Warband Roster

The Greeks are defending their homeland against a numerous and deadly enemy. Fortunately they've had quite a bit of practice fighting each other and are mostly better armed and trained than their enemies. It's not going to be easy though.

If you haven't played with these rules before this is what you need to know: a low quality value is good because you need to roll over it on a d6. A high Combat value is good because you add it to a d6 roll. Special rules generally do what the name implies.

A starting warband is 300 points and you can't spend more than 100pts on personalities.The point limit will increase as the campaign progresses.

New units will also appear throughout the campaign.

A note on colour schemes
Since Spartan, Athenian and Corinthian hoplites could all end up looking very similar, please use the following colour schemes so that everyone can tell them apart at a glance.

  • Athens: White helmet crests and/or tunics
  • Corinth:  Black helmet crests and/or tunics
  • Sparta: Red helmet crests and/or tunics



Amazon Archer
Points 26
Quality 4+
Combat 2
Special Rules
Good Shot, Shooter: Medium
Amazons fail to understand why other Greeks need to get close to the enemy to kill him.

Amazon Princess - Personality
Points 66Quality 3+Combat 3
Special RulesLeader, Steadfast
Amazon Princesses earn their rank by being outstanding fighters and leaders.
Amazon Warrior
Points 20Quality 4+Combat 2
Special RulesFree Disengage
Mobility is a great advantage in battle and these warriors excel at it.
Athenian Warrior
Points 21
Quality 4+
Combat 2
Special Rules
Dashing, Shieldwall
Athens produces fine warriors who are eager to enter the fray against their enemies.
Corinthian Hoplite
Points 20
Quality 4+
Combat 2
Special Rules
Heavy Armor
Corinth is a rich city and its soldiers have the best equipment and a bad attitude.


Priest / Priestess - Personality
Points 56Quality 3+Combat 2
Special RulesCleric, Free Disengage
The gods have sent out their favoured servants to help fight the unliving minions of Xerxes.s
Spartan Warrior
Points 29
Quality 4+
Combat 3
Special Rules
Shieldwall, Steadfast
Trained from birth as warriors, Spartans are fierce warriors and seldom flee from battle.
Greek slingers
Points 21
Quality 4+
Combat 2
Special Rules
Shooter: Medium
The Greeks place little value on ranged combat but they do deploy slingers as skirmishers.
Spartan Hero - Personality
Points 78
Quality 3+
Combat 4
Special Rules
Hero, Shieldwall, Steadfast
Spartan leaders are combat masters even amongst their own warrior culture.
Athenian Strategos - Personality
Points 58
Quality 3+
Combat 2
Special Rules
Dashing, Leader, Shieldwall
Strategoi are experts in manoeuvring their troops for best advantage a fact that has won Athens many victories.
Corinthian Achon - Personality
Points 46
Quality 3+
Combat 1
Special Rules
Heavy Armor, Leader
A Corinthian Archon is a merchant with a hint of patriotism. Whilst efficient he generally leads from the back.
Bronze Warrior
Points 24
Quality 4+
Combat 2
Special Rules
Artificial, Heavy Armor
The gods have blessed some of the temple statues so that they help to defend the land against the invaders.
Centaur
Points 42
Quality 4+
Combat 3
Special Rules
Big, Long Move
Half horse, half man and not happy about the invaders disturbing his drinking sessions.
Nymph
Points 33
Quality 2+
Combat 0
Special Rules
Coward, Distract, Forester
Whilst these beautiful natures spirits are hardly warriors they do have an uncanny ability to distract the enemy at critical moments.
Satyr
Points 28
Quality 2+
Combat 1
Special Rules
Dashing, Forester
Half man, half goat and normally very drunk. Satyrs are wild creatures who you don’t want to invite to dinner.
Satyr Archer
Points 30
Quality 2+
Combat 1
Special Rules
Forester, Shooter: Medium
Some Satyrs are too lazy to get close and thump the enemy. They just shoot them instead.



Monday 24 June 2013

Wrath of the Gods: Victory Points

Players will gain Victory Points for themselves so that we can see who is winning individually  Perhaps more importantly we will total the Victory Points for the players on each side to see which side ultimately wins the war!

To track VPs we have a Facebook Group. You need to report games played and won there so that they can be tracked. For painted miniatures, you need to post what you have painted ideally with a photo. If you can't post a photo then two other people need to post that they've seen them.

Painted Miniatures: 1 VP per model
Miniature games are much more fun when the models involved have been painted and based so whilst you're welcome to play with unpainted figures there are considerable VPs available if you do paint them.

To score victory points a model must have at least four colours on it and be based. Modelling sand, flock and resin bases are all fine types of basing. The quality of your painting is not judged only whether you have met the requirements.

Playing a game against a warband from an enemy faction: 1 VPs
Both the winner and the loser get points in this way. Playing a game against a warband from your own faction does not gain you points because we want to encourage people to fight the other side. :-)

Winning a game: 2 VPs
Pretty self explanatory, I think. You get this even if you play a warband from your own side.


Wednesday 5 June 2013

Ogre Gladiators from Black Tree Design

Greetings fellow painters, just a quick post to show the results of my labours at the painting table over the weekend. These two ogre gladiators will be terrifying my players in an RPG session soon. 

The figures are from Black Tree Design. They were fun to paint and I was pleased with how the armour turned out. I rushed them a bit towards the end to get them finished which is why the swords don't look great.. I ought to go back to them but the rest of my lead mountain is calling me.


Ogre gladiators scale shot
Scale shot with a handy Reaper human
 This figure got a bit more attention than the other so here's a close up.


Monday 3 June 2013

How to pin miniatures

What is this pinning you speak of?

Pinning is a skill that most miniature enthusiasts pick up at some stage; essentially it's a method of securing a limb or other item to a miniature.  It's used in situations when superglue is not strong enough to hold the model together which is pretty often in my experience of superglue and metal minis.  The pin takes much of the weight of the appendage and takes the strain off the superglue. When done correctly it gives you a very strong bond.

Although it's particularly important when working with large metal models, even human sized figures may require it on occasion. Dynamically posed figures that come in multiple parts are frequent candidates for pinning. Since plastic and resin are lighter than metal it isn't often necessary with figures made from those materials.

Okay, so what do I need?
Superglue, a pair of side cutters or clippers, a metal paper clip and a pin vice. A pin vice (or vise to our American cousins) is a simply a small hand drill. You can get them from hobby stores, GW, Amazon and doubtless other places. IF you expect to be working with metal miniatures frequently then they're a good investment.
Tools for pinning minis
Tools: side cutters, paper clip and a pin vice.



Pinning an Ogre Gladiator Step by Step

Our test subject today is an Ogre Gladiator from Black Tree Design. Although the arm socket is well designed the arm is quite heavy and will be much stronger if pinned.

1. Prepare the figure
Clean any flash and mould lines off the figure in the usual way and then dry fit the figure and check that all the parts go together smoothly. If they don't, you won't be able to pin them properly as the glue won't take. File them down or otherwise remove anything that is in the way.  You may discover at  this stage that there's going to be a gap between the two parts. If this happens, fear not as you can fill it easily using green stuff after you've pinned the model.

Pinning a miniature 1
Dry fit the figure and make sure the parts go together smoothly.

2. Find a pin and a suitable drill bit
An ordinary metal paper clip makes a fine pin.  If you have to pin something particularly heavy, you could use a bigger and therefore stronger paper clip. To find the right size drill bit, line the paper clip up with prospective drill bits until you find a match. A slightly larger drill bit is okay as the super glue will fill some space around then pin.
Pinning a miniature 2
Find the right size drill bit for your pin by lining them up
 as in the picture.

3. Drill the holes
Pretty self explanatory this bit. Some miniatures are made of a harder metal than others so the effort of drilling can vary. I prefer to make the holes deep rather than shallow but be careful not to drill all the way through the arm and into your finger; it hurts. Yes, I speak from experience.

It's normally possible to line them up by eye but at times you may want more precision usually on very wide surfaces. There is a method for this but I didn't need to do it on this figure and forgot to include it as one of the steps. I'll do in another post soon.
Pinning a miniature 3
Holes drilled into the arm and the body.



4. Cut and insert the pin 
Using a pair of clippers cut off a short length of paper clip. Cup your free hand around the clippers as you do so to stop the bit you cut off flying across the room.

Without gluing anything insert the pin and fit the pieces together. If the pin is too small, cut a new one. If it's too long you'll see there is a gap between the pieces as shown in the picture below. When this happens, it's generally best to simply deepen one of the holes until it fits snugly.

Pinning a miniature 4
Cut the paper clip and check it fits in the socket.


5. Glue it together
Superglue the pin into the body and allow it to dry. Apply superglue to the pin and the area around it and put on the arm. Again leave it to dry. And that's it. Job done. :-)

Miniature pinned at last
Miniature pinned at last :-)



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Thanks for the +1 and happy pinning!