Getting the drop on the opposition in AD&D, a visual

After playing RPGs and war-games since 1982 I have come across tons of art; some good, some bad and some in between. Of the old school artists from the early days of TSR are Tramp and

But this post is not about that. This post is about something so over the top gonzo. So over the top that it is epic bad/good. So cool that it is hard to quantify. So of course it is something from 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I should also note that despite 2nd Edition being my favorite version of Dungeons and Dragons and how I run it (see here) I am not a particularly huge fan of the Forgotten Realms.

So with that said this cover is nothing short of pure awesomeness. 

At first I never paid this much attention back in the day: I do not currently have or need the book. But the more I look at it I have come to realize just how gob smacking cool this is! All too often over the years I have seen knights fighting hordes of bad guys ad-nauseam, orcs, thieves climbing demon idols, menacing beholders and mighty dragons on the wing and everything in between.

But getting the drop on some town guard flunky in such an unorthodox way? That is the stuff that legends are made of! And to do it with a loaf of ciabatta bread, left-handed? You do not get much more pimp than this move. Imagine the consternation of said city watchman heading back to the guard tower:

Master at Arms at the Tower: "So, William, did you bring the outlaw scum at the Sleepy Dragon Inn?"

William: (sheepishly) "No, I... uhhhhh... couldn't find him."

Master at Arms at the Tower: "Why is your face and neck covered with bread crumbs?"

I mean really who is going to own up to the fact that some dude in a tavern got the drop on you with his freaking DINNER! A plate maybe, a hunk of bread????

You might loathe 2nd Edition AD&D, you might not like the art (I have certainly seen better) you might not like the subject matter. But when is the last time you got the drop on someone in the game with one of your characters utilizing a loaf of bread? I am guessing never.

Part III- The Repaint of Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers

Part III- The Repaint of Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers

Like a lot of my 3rd edition models these guys have undergone many paints and then subsequent repaints. As I noted during the initial post of this topic I had to paint a lot of models quickly back in the day as I was the only player of "good" armies; meaning in larger battles it was always me, allying with... myself. So being an Empire player primarily back then meant Wood Elves as an ally contingent.

I was fortunate enough to grab a box set of Skarloc's Woof Elf Archers around 1989 (the box is long since gone.) Their initial paint job was rushed quite a bit, I don't remember much by they were obviously clad in a lot of green. The second repaint left them likewise green but still rather flat and using 5th/6th edition shields.

For their last (hopefully) repaint I took my time. I actually finished them about a month ago but with a two-week vacation I'm just getting around to posting this. As you can see I went with the same autumnal feel for the color palette I've been using for all of my reborn Wood Elf force, along with appropriate flock.

The photos are bit yellowish as I've been having a hard time getting to the store to get natural light bulbs for the painting/photography area.

Overall, I'm pleased with how they came out. For the shields I opted for a simple white swirl pattern which I had for several painted Glade Guards. I echoed the color on the banner which is a stylized pair of wings.

Next up is a Treeman which is almost complete. Until next time.

Part II of the Repainting of my 3rd Edition Wood Elf Force.

Part II of the Repainting of my 3rd Edition Wood Elf Force.

The first unit of the rebuilt force can be found here.

Despite a major flood in the man cave of the basement, I was able to continue to churn out some more units. I've been working on two units simultaneously, one unit of 10 Wood Elf Wardancers and a unit of 20 Skarloc's Wood Elf Archers which will be used as Guards or Lord's Bowmen. The archers are nearly complete, but the Wardancers are fully complete!

As you can see, I've used some regular Wood Elf warriors and champion models to give them a unique look and feel. I have another unit of Wardancers that I'm still assembling models for. This unit is the left overs from the first unit in the sense of the actual War Dancer models. Back in the day I used the ten models I had as Sea Elf Wardancers for my High Elf force. These models were all  actual minis from the Wardancer range, but for the rebirth of the army I decided to spread them out across two units instead, make sense? The second unit will look more like the Wardancer troops depicted in the Warhammer Armies book.

In keeping with my first archer unit I repainted, I continued the look of fall foliage on the bases and movement trays. I plan on doing this for the entire army to give it a unified, autumnal look.

Next up? I have a unit of 4th edition Wood Elf Glade Guards. I've always liked better than the 3rd edition models for the Wood Elf Host. For the 3rd edition force they function as Warrior Kinbands obviously. My scratch built Wain Lord chariot is another possibility along with my first Treeman repaint.

The Most Craptastic Ad Ever in Gaming: The Dragonmaster’s Ring

Usually I’m a live-and-let-live kinda guy, but this one made me roll my eyes so hard they almost popped out from my skull…

How did I come across this? A brief bit of background: one of my most treasured gaming materials is my run of Dungeon from issues #1 through #81, encompassing the entirety of 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D adventures. It took years, but I got them all. Dungeon is an amazing resource. When grogs complain “there are no good 2nd Edition adventures,” I point them to this excellent resource.

But I digress: last week I had a flood as the sump pump float in the basement got stuck. Long story short, I thought my Dungeon mags were safe inside their plastic tote and plastic bags to boot. I was wrong — there was a small hole in the bottom of the tote. So I’ve spent the last week and a boatload of electricity with the fans, the dehumidifier, and my wife’s hairdryer drying the basement and said Dungeon mags. In the process I come across issue #79 and find this “gem.”

Here is the monstrosity of which I speak.

There is so much that is just wrong with this visual. Shouldn’t this guy be in one of the man-bands of the late 90s or something e;se rather than playing role-playing games? There are no words other than “what ass-hat would be wearing this thing and looking like this guy???” The Franklin Mint really outdid itself with this tool. I really like the tag line: “The Secrets of the Universe are Within Your Grasp.” Thank god for that! Within my grasp, you say???? And just $195, exclusively from the Franklin Mint???? Sign me up! And I’m fairly certain most “Dragon Masters” don’t look like Vinnie from the club.

Ugh.

My journey (back) into 3rd Edition and the rebirth of my Wood Elves

Now that my Chaos Dwarf force is complete (for the most part) I decided to really start painting/repainting my other armies. But before that...

In the past I described how around 1987-89 my high school buddies and I played some amazing AD&D games and a bit later some Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay which I outlined here.

As we transitioned to the later grades in high school we started playing Warhammer Battle, at the time 3rd Edition. For some reason my buddies started playing the game earlier than I. As I would later learn they all picked  different armies so they could ally with each other for larger games. As I recall it was a follows: Jeff- Orcs and Goblins, Dave- Skaven, Pete- Dark Elves, Mike- Goblins? and Daryl had a small Chaos Force featuring Chaos Snakemen. For the most part when I started playing everyone else had largely stopped except Jeff and Dave.

As you can see all of the evil armies were taken except for Undead which didn't appeal to me. So as I started out I briefly played one game with my army as Bretonnian force before converting it to an Empire force. At some point I may post pictures of my Empire army but not now.

So what does this have to do with Wood Elves I hear you say? Glad you asked. Since there was only three of us playing regularly, if we all wanted to play it would be Jeff and Dave vs me! So with an Empire force, what to do? I had to buy and paint my own allies and hence where my Wood Elves came from. In fact my Wood Elf force which would grow to about 1500 pts was just that, an ally contingent that got bigger and bigger. I'm guessing Games Workshop did this but design... Later, my High Elf army would take the same path until it got to be massive, far larger than the Empire force.

I really haven't set out to repaint my wood elves this last month of so, I was repainting my dark elves, but for some reason I stripped down the Wood Elves and started them up with a unit that was one of my original Wood Elf purchases: a unit of 20 archers from the Warhammer Regiment Box set. I think searched the web, not a lot out there in the way of 3rd Edition Wood Elf minis (painted and presented) that is.

As you can see above I repainted them entirely in traditional greens like their original paint jobs, but wanted to make them look very autumnal. So I stopped at the craft store for some Woodland Scenics clump foliage- Fall mix for the bases and the movement tray. For the first try it's a tad too clumpy despite getting the handle of cutting the foliage it with my x-acto as I went.

So stay tuned for further updates about the rebirth/repainting of my Wood Elf Host. Unlike my Dark Elf army underway at the Oldhammer Forums I think I'm going to keep all my Wood Elf updates here on the blog.

Building Timber Ridge – Northern Old West Town Progress Report

The Old West town of Timber Ridge continues to expand

Work continues apace on my Western town of Timber Ridge. As noted, it’s been a busy week (or weeks), so I didn’t get as much progress as I would have liked, but I did get some solid work in with the Marshal’s office and a corral rounding into form.

In addition to the various forms/places of inspiration that have already been mentioned (Tombstone, Pale Rider, etc.), I came up with another one: from 1951–1999 in North Hudson, NY, there existed a great little amusement park called Frontiertown.

My own memories of it are vague, as I went there as a little kid around maybe 4–5 years old, so somewhere around the late 1970s. Perhaps a future blog post. It’s a sad testament in a way — the decline of Frontiertown mirrors America’s shifting views and movement away from Westerns, but I digress.

The Marshal’s office is close to completion at about 60% complete in terms of painting, and the corral is up next.

It looks like the minis will be the last thing I get for the gangs/posses, as I’m still looking over the miniature lines. Right now Black Scorpion minis are leading the pack, but I still have time to decide. I want them to be a bit larger, so they will be at least 28mm.

I’ve looked at the classic lines from Wargames Foundry and a few others, but will still be mulling it over.

I’m also considering what I want to do for wagons and various sundry items. Obviously scale model railroad terrain makes the most sense. Various miniature manufacturers make wagons and carts, but like the minis, I have time to decide.

Timber Ridge – My Northern-Style Old West Town for Warhammer Legends of the Old West & More

 

The Old West town of Timber Ridge underway

 

I’ve embarked on the creation of a Western town for such games as Warhammer Historical – Legends of the Old West, my game Hurled into Eternity, and perhaps even Boot Hill.

Unlike most towns people have created out there on the web, this one is not set in the American Southwest, but rather in more northerly climes. (As an aside, I love the movie Tombstone but I wanted a look and feel that was something different for an Old West town.)

A major inspiration for this is one of my favorite movies of all time: Unforgiven.

I’ve only just started on the town itself, so there is not much to show just yet. I anticipate with the pace I’m going at that I’ll complete it by the fall of this year, but we’ll see what happens.

Thus, the start of the town of Timber Ridge, a logging encampment, but full of cut-throats, desperadoes, and gunmen!