A little package arrived

I got a little package in the mail, and I think I know what it is... I might also need to look up and learn the meaning of the word "little", but that's me.

The small brown thing on top, is a Blood & Plunder Longboat, something that most players of B&P should be familiar with. There's also a 50 cl bottle of soft drink, for further scale comparison. Little might not be quite the right word to use here...

Spoiler: it's my pledge for the Blood & Plunder: No Peace Beyond the Line kickstarter (IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!). For further comparison, I apparently hadn't thrown away my box from the initial kickstarter, so here it is. Looks surprisingly tiny next to the new one, and that one was shock full of goodies.

It's a well packaged box as well, with only a little bit of dead space (you're free to imagine an excited fool jumping in place while looking over all this).

First out is the magnificent-looking collectors edition of the rulebook and expansion. A true old-timey feel, and gorgeous to look at.

And not exactly small either. At first, the pages looked thick, but once I dared to open it and look, they were surprisingly thin (further enhancing the feel of "old-timey bible"). I know that if I'm ever a judge in a Blood & Plunder tournament, I will carry this and dress almost like an old priest, dispensing the word of God...

 I did of course also get the normal version of the book. Awesome cover, and lots of great stuff in it. Possibly too much great stuff, because I don't know where I want to start...

It doesn't exactly help that I ordered "one of everything", all four starter sets (two Pirates & Privateers, because you always need more sailors), as well as two canoas, a Piragua, cards for all of these, some random small stuff...

And of course a Fluyt (can't have Dutch without a Fluyt). This ship looks very nice, and kind of cute due to being wider at the base than on top (as a Fluyt should be).

There is also the "freebies" of various characters and new, fancy dice.

First up, the "Blood" and "Plunder" dice. I'm not sure about the Blood dice, it seems awfully dark, but I will have to test it out some before I'm certain (and if that's the case, there's an easy fix that any modeller should be capable of doing).

Here's also the five legendary characters introduced with NPBTL: Juan Corso, William Kidd, Piet Heyn, Laurens de Graff, and King Golden Kap. If they're half as good as the special characters Firelock has released so far, they will be a joy to paint (and from what I've looked so far, they're possibly even better than the original ones).

There are also various neutral characters: merchants, pilots, courtesans and guides. Three of each, since I went for the big pledge.

And the kickstarter exclusive, the female sailor. She looks utterly gorgeous, would be eminently suitable for Anne Dieu-Le-Veut, Mary Reed, Anne Bonney, or any other of the few female sailors and pirates there were, I love her, and I don't know if I'm good enough to do her full justice.... Painter's anxiety is a thing. Thank Firelock that I have several of her.

Of course, there's also the April Fools Joke turned local Meme turned into public demand turned into running joke: the Monkey with a Blunderbuss. Seen here in Firelock's interpretation: an old Mayan statue with blunderbuss leaned next to it and a local monkey on top...

Finally, there is the crown jewel, the mother of it all... well, Firelock really puts it in their order sheet:

It's not just "a" Galleon. It's The Galleon. and the capitalized definite article is certainly warranted.

I will have to admit, when I pulled it out of the box, after having cleared away everything else, my first thought was "wasn't it supposed to be bigger?". Yeah, I know. Well, let's put it next to the longboat and bottle again, to get a sense of it.

Oh, wait, not that small after all. It is just a tad longer than my forearm... It is in fact humongous. Not just long, but also tall and wide (which is probably what initially fooled me, combined with not putting it next to everything else). For a further comparison, all the miniatures shown above are on her. At the same time... I can't wait to start painting her.

And you even get a choice of decorations. Either saints and the weapons of the Spanish royalty, for a Spanish galleon, or lions and a shield if you want it to be english-built instead.

To be put in the stern, where there's a nice flat surface for it (and you can probably squeeze in the name as well).

I'm having a surprisingly hard time deciding which option to go with. I might just have to get a second one (yes, I am somewhat insane, why do you ask), so that I can have one of each. Both options look so very crisp and shiny.

I will also have you know, that I've found myself laughing (and giggling) over how utterly gigantic the Galleon is, ever since I wrapped my head around it (putting it next to my equally unpainted Frigate helped...).

/(A giggling) Fool out.

Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago - Shieldmaidens

Finally finished with the latest stuff: a warband for Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago. A Heritor, a Warden, some specialists, and some crewmen. I used the excellent Shieldwolf Miniatures Shieldmaiden Infantry. The only problem I had with this kit was the overabundance of chainmail (no bodies without it, which could have been fixed with Green Stuff if I had the patience), and the lack of two-handed weapons (eh, I can make do without such). But with this, my repurposed SAGA Vikings can finally get some rest.

Our merry band of lasses. Interrestingly, 15 of them, exactly the same as I had for the Cultists for normal Frostgrave (although I might have to expand these with at least one more, I've discovered some more fun stuff since I started building these). 7 generic crew(wo)men (I should never need more than that), 6 specialists, and of course the Warden and the Heritor... Heritrix... what's the female version of Heritor? Or Warden, for that matter?

The crew. Obviously a bit varied where they come from, mosty an excuse to paint several different tones of bare skin. And they do have a quite nice amount of bare skin to paint. Not necessarily realistic, but this is Frostgrave, we sneer at realism. All of them have unpainted wooden shields (with steel reinforcements) and axes (or in one case, a flail). Plentiful, as might be needed (at least you get more of them for free next game if they get knocked down).

The first of the specialists, then: crossbow(wo)men, or marks(wo)men for when you manage to upgrade them. Smaller crossbows are probably an advantage when exploring the Ghost Archipelago, vegetation tends to keep the sight ranges down to short. All specialists have cloaks and/or painted shields, with colors kept the same between similar specialists. In this case: green. Both can of course do service as either crossbowgirl or marksgirl, but in case of one of each, the one with the shield is the marksgirl by dint of more armor.

The Tomb Robbers gets no shields for ease of distinction, but yellow capes. Fast girls, but with a unfortunate tendency to get knocked down and/or killed off. I think I've used up 3 so far (and I am yet to loose any of the crossbows, or even get significant damage on my Heritor or Warden). A combination of high speed (so that they're in the middle of the fight), not quite high enough fight value, and low-ish armor does not a frontline fighter make, apparently. Who'd've thought it.

For more armored girls, there are these two. Intended to serve as Freebooters, heavily armed and armored fighters willing to go down with the best on them, but can also do service as Women-at-Arms, if money is tight and you have to make do with slightly less armor. Do note how one is slightly less armored than the other (especially around the legs): perfect in case you have one of each. Blue shields and red capes gets to mark the hired fighters.

The Warden is next in turn. Serving as both Second-in-Command and as magical support, she gets some extra attention. The staff is a converted flag pole (with a blob of green stuff as the top gem), while her various bags, pouches, shells and bottles come from various Frostgrave Sprues I had lying around. As a clearly magical individual (girl), she's not bound to reasonable colors and gets blue hair (gotta have blue hair), to serve either as a Storm Warden (that I keep thinking of as Air Bender), the intended purpose, especially with cape and hair going in different directions, or Wave Warden (that would be the Water Bender...). Cape is somewhat intended to mimick a clouded sky.

Finally, the big girl herself, the Heritor (Heritrix?). Nominally armed with a one-handed weapon and a shield (and the ever present chainmail, which can count as anything from "nothing" to "heavy armor"). I am however considering, since the sword is such a hunk of metal, to stat-wise put her down as heavy armor (similar to light armor + shield, and she'll move as normal girls in light armor moves anyway) and a two-handed weapon. She's already got all the Strength-related Heritor abilities I can think of...

Anyway, that's the band. And it's finished just as the Fg:GA campaign is going into hibernation (in part because I'm interrested in playing varying games come autumn)

/Fool Out.

Frostgrave - Necromancer and Cultist warband

And now, for something completely different. It's not even historical. (No, I do not in fact limit myself to historical wargames. Shocking, I know.)

From the frozen city to the north, a Necromancer, his apprentice and their band of ne'er-do-wells trying to find what they can in Frostgrave.

The (not so) merry band of scum and villainy. 15 models in all, all of them build from the North Star Frostgrave Cultists plastic kit (and some sundry bits and pieces, as well as some green stuff. And some pieces have been taken of and/or modified... but it's all plastic. And a little green stuff). Most of these ca be used for, and are intended for, several different kinds of hired help, as long as the equipment is in general agreement. Any armour can generally be handwaved as hidden under thick winter robes.

The big cheese himself, as well as the medium-size cheese in his apprentice. They're applying the Warhammer logic of command: the more skulls you have/carry, the higher up the totem pole you are.

A bunch of Thugs and random scum is always useful for carrying heavy stuff, ganging up on annoying monsters (or the warbands of other wizards) or, worse come to worst, ingredients. They're cheap, and there's always more in the nearest tavern.

Some faster fellows are occasionally useful, either cheap Thieves (armed with only a single dagger) or the more competent Treasure Hunters (dual wielding sword and dagger). Generally, you want two such models, or, as the case is with the middle guy, someone that can counts as either as circumstances (warband attrition and finances) may dictate.

Some ranged support is always welcome, be it bow or crossbow. The bowman can serve as an Archer or a Ranger, while the crossbowman can be either a Crossbowman (very imaginative name, that) or a Marksman. Generally, two guys on ranged support ought to be enough, and with one of each, there is little chance for mistakes and confusion.

Bigger weapons are always nice to hit stuff with. Three different, suitable two handed weapons in the bits pile means three guys armed with such. They can stand in for Infantrymen (the guy with a spear would be excellent for that), Templars (guy with big-ass sword dito) or Barbarians (flail-guy), or any mix of the above, once more as attrition and finances allow. The swordman could also work as a Captain of the warband, if such is desired.

A view of the two handers from the side, showing exactly how large those weapons are. The flail is converted from a spiked club (the head, and the shaft) with a bit of plastic chain in between, and a bit of green stuff to keep it all together. The sword is, I think, from the Frostgrave Soldiers kit (got a sprue from a friend, with a few bodies and random equipment left), otherwise all pieces for these guys are from the Cultist kit.

Or you could go with a shield instead of a larger weapon, if you're not quite as fanatic and think you have some chance of survival. Both and either can serve as anything armed with a hand weapon and shield, although the guy with the larger shield is primarily intended as a Knight or Captain, while the other guy would be an Man-at-Arms (or a Thug, as seen above, assuming the buckler isn't all that useful for actual protection).

Warbands in Frostgrave tend to suffer some level of attrition. But if your wizard specialises in necromancy, there is no need to waste those bodies (or any other you find in the frozen city, no matter their age). Pictured above: Bob the Thug, before and after a unfortunate run-in with something a bit larger than he could handle (yes, they're very intentionally painted the same. Necromancers, man).

The nice thing with Frostgrave (and Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago, the follow-up) is that you don't need all that many models, you can even use models intended for completely different gaming systems. I've been using my SAGA vikings so far, with a few painted up additions (mostly the two "wizards" and a few treasure hunters). So, naturally, I have ideas for 3 or 4 warbands, and all of them will be expanded way beyond what is "needed". Then again, I've never really been known for moderation.

/Fool Out

Blood & Plunder - new table

I am not much of a terrain builder myself. Thankfully, there are some fellows (or one very prolific one) that I know. We finally got a chance to try out his latest creation.

It looks utterly amazing, doesn't it? Yeah, it does, and even better in person.

We had two games, Spanish Militia (since I wanted to try out the Milicianos Indios) against French Militia. First game, the spanish started a bit bunched up on one flank.

The French are more spread out, guarding objectives and waiting.

 First objective, guarded by a unit of French Caribbean Militia, on the farthest corner of the village square

The second objective, guarded by another unit of French Militia, in the fort guarding the harbour.

The Spanish charged forward, but due to my bad luck with the dice (and a few spectacular defensive fires by my opponent), the Lanceros were wiped out as they tried to charge the fort, followed by the Milicianos gutted and shaken trying to charge the Boucaniers in the forest. And then the Spanish bravely ran away. In all, a good game, though my bad rolls (and a few good rolls at the crucial time from my opponent) spoiled it somewhat for me.

Another attempt, with things changed around a bit. Now, the objective is roughly in between the forces, which have been moved closer to simulate "starting at turn 2" (since this is roughly how we'll demo the game at Gothcon in a month's time). Spanish down below, French up above (same forces as last time), with some sneaky Spanish Indianos up near the river on one flank (hopefully distracting Boucaniers, near the upper leftmost buildin, from gunning down Milicianos).

Two units of French Militia, hanging back for now (soon to rush forward for the objectives)

We played the river as rough terrain (obviously, but Natives don't care about that), that also provided cover for units in it. Might have to add something about not providing cover for gunpowder-armed units, but once again, (these) Natives don't care. Prevents that side of the table from being too open.

Boucaniers fails to kill natives fast enough, slowly falling to a hail of arrows (and a final charge once they'd taken some casualties and fatigue).

The Milicianos, meanwhile, manage to get up into some cover (helped by being Elusive), meeting the first unit of French Militia and soundly trouncing them. After that, with both the Boucaniers, one unit of Militia, and the commander being dead, the French is defeated. Decent enough game, but very fast and not quite balanced between the Spanish and the French. More thought will have to go into it, but we're getting there. And we will have an utterly awesome table to get there on.

And I'm still happy that I finally got the Milicianos to work. Don't be fooled by the long guns they carry. These are mostly for defense when they get charged. March up there, present the guns at the enemy only when less than 4" away, fire and the immediately charge the survivors in melee. Of course, in a normal game, you'll take more casualties going in than here.

/Fool Out.