Sunday, 26 July 2009

Palace of Tyresias

On Friday last, my boys + friends AD&D adventuring party stumbled back in time to 1984 and discovered my multilevel-dungeon.

This is a scanned and retouched image from the 1984 frontspiece. Whilst there are elements of "Tyresias" that I'm not entirely happy with (the Kobolds of the Golden parrot, for example!), much of it seems to have borne the passage of time really well and I'm refurbing (and even extending!) the place.

I wonder whether anyone else out there is writing for AD&D?

Saturday, 25 July 2009

Onwards with Aventines

I'm going to post occasional updates on the progress of my Aventine Etruscans. This (unfortunately slightly blurry) image shows progress after the 6th painting session. The first 4 were on flesh tones, the fifth tidied up edges with black and painted steel/iron, and the sixth sorted out the bronze. I guess I've spent about 12 hours in total on them, so far.

The minis are a pleasure to paint. There is quite a lot of detail, but it is in good relief. They remind me somewhat of the Saleh WotGs, which suits me nicely. I think it's going to take me the best part of 3 weeks to finish and base them (but hopefully the more simply equipped Hastati and Velites will be faster to paint).

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Honest, I have been painting stuff...

I've regrouped after my brief holiday refurbing 1980's D&D Minis, and am back in the saddle with the ancients painting.

Above are the Tegeans, that have long been lurking on the painting table; they are all retouched and ready for varnishing. Unfortunately I have been waiting 2 weeks for the Testors Dullcoat that I need for the next step, so they are in a holding pattern! Grrr.

I'm very excited about these minis; my first unit of the excellent Aventine minis ( http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk ), and at the same time the first unit I'm specifically painting for the SOA Zama game. They are going to be a long job, but I'll make sure that I work on them every day until they are finished.

They represent the Triarii of an allied legion; this will ultimately include 16 Triarii, 32 Hastati, 32 Principes and 32 Velites. Keith at Aventine is painting a matching allied legion; we'll need 2 Roman legions, later on. There's more information about the Zama project here: http://bigredbat.blogspot.com/search/label/Operation%20Zama

Sunday, 19 July 2009

Does anyone recognise these Drow?

I think they are Ral Partha, but I can't find them in a catalogue or online. I really like the minis and want to buy a few more... especially if I can find some with crossbows. If anyone has a code that would be fantastic.

My (temporary) diversion into fantasy has continued; the kids completed the Village of Hommlet after an epic final encounter, and now have buckets of treasure burning holes in their moneybags. Next, I'm toying with running a multi-level dungeon I wrote around '85. With 24 years perspective, it doesn't look bad at all; needs a little work, and I'd need to buy/paint a few more minis.

I must confess to having squandered the better part of 2 weeks refurbing/rebasing my D&D figures. Tonight I shall get back to Ancients!

Monday, 13 July 2009

Wot I have been doing...

Alarmingly little painting, thats what! The end of the school term has led to a rash of parents evenings and social events that have cut my painting to a slow crawl. This week I've managed a little more work on the Tegeans, and I've rebased some spare fantasy miniatures for AD&D. I hope to finish basing the Tegeans by Friday so that I can start the Zama project!

On the AD&D front, we had a third very enjoyable dungeon delve last Saturday. At one stage, the entire party was staring death in the face; however the wizard managed to rescue them with his one (only moderately) useful spell "Dancing Lights". They are nearing the tail end of Hommlet and I'm toying with literally dusting off an old dungeon of my own, that I think they might enjoy...

Monday, 6 July 2009

Resolutions; Six Month Review!

Inspired by Greg Privat, and by the "Year of Frugal Gaming" site, back at the end of last December I set myself some resolutions.

As von Molkte once said, "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy", and my resolutions have largely failed to survive contact with 2009. Reviewing them in turn:-

1. Finish the Pictish minis I promised myself I'd finish by the end of December, by the end of January. I managed to finish these by the end of February; a minor tactical defeat.
2. 2009 is declared "Year of the Early Imperial Roman Auxiliary" I've painted/based 48; less than half of what I want, but at least I am "over the top".
3. ...except that I also have to finish the Celtic army Which isn't exactly finished, but has got somewhat larger...
4. Develop a set of rules with Ian that enable me to use my 24-man units I've done some work on this, and although they are very very far from being finished I am contemplating a test game, perhaps as early as tomorrow
5. Run a Roman Campaign Abject defeat here; without the right set of rules, I've not been tempted to start one.
6. Buy less minis than I paint I was doing very well with this, but couldn't resist a couple of Foundry armies on eBay and currently have 130 more unpainted minis more than I had last year. However, in a normal year I'd probably be 500 up! So I'm conducting a fighting retreat. Mind you I have just bought another 24 on eBay, whilst writing this post. :-(
7. Collection must be cash-neutral in 2009 This is my most serious reverse; I'm afraid I've spent £920 so far this year on miniatures (although the trend is decreasing).
8. Take more photos! Now this one I have done! :-)

So... I'm sticking with the same resolutions; I'll replace 1. above with "Organise a big SOA Zama game for 2010", and 7. with "Don't spend more than £1K".

Sorted.

Return to Hommlet

At the weekend I ran a second D&D session for several of the smaller RedBats and friends. I've been really surprised how many and how enthusiastic they have been; we had a party of seven, including a couple of girls, which is really nice.

We are doing the Village of Hommlet, and doing it old-style; Second edition AD&D played exactly like it was played in the early 1980s (when I adventured there). The kids have all picked it up quickly and I'm looking forward to running a weekly session for the next month. It's all very nostalgic!