Porter and Squire from Otherworld

Squire (HH6b) (with a wonky left arm) and Porter (HH5e) from Otherworld.

The painting table is filled with fantasy figures, some pulp, Wild West and Indochina terrain, sf minis, zombies, Viet Minh soldiers and what not. It will be a real mix of stuff the next couple of weeks.

These two minis, from Otherworld and their Henchmen & Hirelings series, will be very good ‘pack mule’ hirelings in Frostgrave (together with this packbearer) and they will obviously see action elsewhere also.

They have the usual high standards that I’m used to from Otherworld, the only negative is the slightly wonky left arm of the Squire. They are otherwise great minis!

This is post number 500! Yay!

Pulp Alley – Perilous Island Campaign – Jungle Trail

We’re nearing the last act of the Perilous Island Campaign and everyone is looking forward to the final adventures.

This game I have a secret weapon - the Skull Ring I got as a reward from Phipps & Daughter for posting more than 10 Pulp Alley AAR:s last year. With it I will hopefully be invincible or at least Monsignore will not end up in another monster-belly. Notice the typical dice-roll when wearing one of these rings.

There is one thing slowing our progress towards those last games – a new small cultist. The real-life leader of the Cult of Ra (Gunnar) had his better half deliver a new miniature to his collection the other day and that sort of upset the progress of the campaign. We do approve, though, as the miniature in question, while pre-painted, will (due to scale-creep) grow into a full-fledged gamer within a decade or so. Also, the world needs more cultists… Congratulations!

The good guys and gal - The CSSS in all their splendor. A fierce dog and a shooter as local backup during this game.

While we wait for the call of the diapers to fade for some of the league-leaders, the über-Phrenologist Ulf and I had a game.

The evil opposition in the form of the Phrenologists led by Herr Doktor Kopfgelände (dressed all in brown) and his trusted sidekick Sister Sigrid. Three PhD students give extra firepower.

The scenario is Jungle Trail where the leagues try to get clues from some otherworldly undeads (in the scenario it should be young natives but we couldn’t find Jeppans miniature savages so we had to use some ghouls from my collection). The ghouls (i.e. the plot points) moves (in a random direction) after each turn and you have to be fast and smart to catch them and find the clues they hold (unlock the plot points). Two of them is on the board at all times and when one is unlocked it disappears and another one appears (we changed the rules a bit, to make the game more chaotic, and made the appearance totally random). Get two clues and you have the chance of catching the major plot point.

The game-board and set-up

There's the first ghoul. Go get him!

Hissss!

The Phrenologists win initiative and quickly sorround 'their' ghoul.

And the CSSS follow suit. Lets see what the ghouls will do in their activation.

They both move towards the center of the table. This should be interesting.

Soura Innozenca quickly moves up to one of the monstrosities.   

And she fools it into giving away the clue. Notice the excellent dice roll. Ring for the win!

We roll for the next zombie and it appears in the middle of a perilous area close to Monsignore.

Priority now is to protect Soura and her plot point. Other league members move up to shield her from the evil Phrenologists.

Ooops. That's the downside of being a shield...

Ouch. Those sharpshooters knows how to hit. Soura really needs protection now or she might go down and loose the precious plot point.

Saved by more meat-shields.

The Phrenologists side is not idle. Sister Sigrid move up to 'their' ghoul and easily knocks it down. She cuts it up and finds a clue in its grisly innards.

Fortune smiles on the CSSS as the random placement of the new ghoul and their movement-phase places both ghouls within reach of our heroes and well away from the heretics. My plan is to unlock one of the plot points this turn while protecting the other so the opposition doesn't get to him. 

My plan is whittled away as the phrenologists start to shoot...

Ouch. Another one down.

But revenge is swift as Soldato Morto shoots his SMG and places a burst marker over three bunched up Phrenologists.

Excellent. Both PhD students goes down.
Sister Sigrid still stands.

I move more league members to the front line.

and manage to take down the last of the sharp shooting PhD students.

Soura is about to unlock our second plot point when the dastardly Ulf plays a Fortune on her. It makes the Peril she has just drawn permanent in burst centrered around her. Not a very nice trick.

Well, Soura is tough and shakes of the effects of the Peril. She then manages to charm the ghoul to give up the clue it carries.

 Darn! The final rounds seem to have been too tense as I forgot to take more pictures. I think I will say that it was to spare Ulf proof of the humiliating defeat he suffered :-)
Anyway. Monsignore unlocked our third plot point, and was rewarded with the major plot point, a lost page from Lord Darrow's personal diary.
The Phrenologists are down to Herr Doktor and Sister Sigrid and they give up all thoughts on attacking the invincible CSSS (Ulf looked at my Skull Ring and gulped. He new he was in over his head...). Instead they go for a ghoul that strays over to their side and unlocks it. Thereby the game is over and the CSSS got one major and two minor plot points and the Phrenologists got two minor points.
That ring really worked!

Female Dwarf and Gnome Fighters from Otherworld

Gnome and Dwarf female fighters from Otherworld

Another couple of great female adventurers from Otherworld Miniatures.

They are dwarfed by the human fighter. They should be, I guess.

The female dwarf is really small, even compared to other dwarves. A bit to small in my opinion.

DAD13 - Female Dwarf Fighter on a clear base from Sally 4th.

She even got sensible gear. I do like the Otherworld adventurers.

DAD16 - Female Gnome Fighter

Equipped for a week of spelunking.

Welcome follower The Wilde Goose with blogs The Wilde Goose (about walks, games and battles in Bohemia) and Prague Wargamers (about the Prague Wargames Club). Check them out!

The Miniatures Man - 5 years of blogging

Five years ago today I posted my first little blog-thingie. It all started out in Swedish as a reminder for me on what colours I used for different miniatures and the first post was one on WWII German infantry guns. I soon translated everything into English as my reader-base became non-Swedish.

Nearly 500 posts since then and very close to 200K hits. Not too bad for what started as a blog-based note-book. Well, it has grown in scope a bit over the years and now it has become a way to communicate with people all over the world and hopefully inspire and maybe give a good laugh now and then.

Five years is enough time to have a little stroll down memory lane, so here are some of my favourite earlier posts

My adventures with winter camouflage, ripped bedsheets, silk paper and lead-plates - sometimes it is better not to experiment….

The female cleric/necromancer from Reaper. Still one of my favourite paint jobs even though she is not very sensibly dressed.

The Othyugh from Reaper, one of the most disgusting monsters… the name sort of gives it away.

On the road to Stalingrad – one of the funniest participation games we’ve ever staged. In part two you will see why the phrase “Hey, what’s the chance of me rolling another double 1?” is bound to be trouble.

Storing your minis the IKEA way was an unexpected success. It was shared on TMP and other places and is still my number one post in number of views.

The airport hangar is just… big. It’s seen use in 20mm LRDG attacks and 28mm Pulp. A great kit and more than one man have said “I need one of those!”

I joined Little Wars gaming club a year ago and one club meeting ended with a very enjoyable game of Black Powder. It’s great to be the general.

The club has been a boon to my gaming and modelling. The Soerabaja Harbour project had me working for several months and will see me doing even more. Great fun and great results if I may say so. Check out all posts on the project here if you’re interested in the details.

We used the harbour in the Pulp Alley club campaign. The funniest game in that campaign was the one where we met The Great Gonga. Monsignore Cadaverico, my gang leader made himself a name as a monster magnet there, and it has continued, unfortunately. My first TPK (total party kill, in this instance meaning everyone in my gang became monster-fodder). Pulp Alley is such a good game that it is fun even if you lose in a big way.

It's been a good ride so far and I hope to keep up a while more. Thank you all for you interest and comments.

Off to the champagne and The Miniatures Man 5th Anniversary Party on Perilous Island. You're all invited! I hear the goblin groupies are waiting.

Well, it might be better to stay here instead. 
Now, let's see if there are any fun miniatures out there... Ooooooh, shiny!

Zombicide: Black Plague – Clovis and more zombies

 The second hero for the Zombicide: Black Plague boardgame is finished – Clovis the fighter. 

I tried to match the colours of the mini to that of the character card and illustration in the rule-book, to make easier to find the right figure when we game. Not only will it speed up play, it was also rather fun.

The result is better than I expected, I’m really satisfied with how he turned out.

I have also finished a new batch of zombies to make life miserable for poor Clovis.