A Hunter Needs Hounds

Working on a witch hunter and his band. Finished painting a couple of hounds. Still working on some followers and the hunter himself.

The old Grenadier halfling in this pic looks strangely like Short Lou Reed for some reason.

Marsh Troll

I posted this guy lurking behind elves in my OWAC posts, but never posted a proper pic of him on his own... til now.

Citadel c20 marsh troll.

(FWIW: I'm interested in acquiring most of the other c20 trolls, if anyone can assist....)

Stuff! In the Mail! And a Game!

We're in the week between the end of my daughter's summer day camp, and the start of school. So we've made assorted arrangements to keep her occupied & supervised. Today was, as she called it "daddy & daughter day" -- I took a day off work to spend with her. Unfortunately, bad weather blew my initial plans (mostly outdoor activities) away. But I did have some indoor backup plans. We went out for most of the day and had fun, then came home around dinner.

She's been asking about the Temple of Elemental Evil boardgame, since I've had the box out. We played Dungeon! again a few weeks ago (with my wife as well) and I described it as "kind of like Dungeon! but with a lot more rules. Recommended age is 14+, my daughter's only 8, but she's really bright. A couple days ago she suggested we could play it today, and my wife told me she was talking about it last night & this morning, so who am I to disagree!

We played the first scenario from the campaign. I left out the background about murdered friends and switched the "Massacre Site" tile for the "Oubliette" tile. She played the ranger, I played the cleric. She took to it like a pro -- making me do the dangerous work & act as a tank, while using her archery to pick off all the monsters (and collect all the treasure.)

Her good tactical sense combined with her strong imagination and still being a great age for "pretend play" make me wonder if I should introduce her to some kid-friendly RPG-ing. I follow a few other parents running RPGs with their kids & friends on their blogs & social media. Maybe I should take the dive?

Today I got Stuff! In the Mail! that will supplement several of my ongoing projects. (Thank you Shadespyre!) Half orcs (and one will fit perfectly for a character for which I've been hunting for a figure lately!), high/sea elf, what appears to be a robo-clown (who I'm already generating backstory for) and a witch-hunter.

Also more of the old Citadel "armoured skeletons" which I can probably never have enough of. But this is especially good timing since I recently won an absolute bargain on some of the Black Tree knock-offs, who can serve as back rankers. Add in a few other stray skeleton figures, and I think I've now got a solid sized unit for this year's Deadcember tradition!

Gaming Table Checkup

As summer winds down, I found myself in the garage and thought try to peek up in the rafters, for my annual checkup of what's left of my gaming table.

Yup. Still there.

I miss it. And my lonely old attic. And time to spend there.

Pic of when the tabletops were first finished.

Context shot from when I was using the table for photographing some figures & (then new) terrain.

Witch Blaster (early warning)

I painted a few peasants. Quick and crude painting.

I'm also rummaging through old figures for a suitable witch hunter. I came up with these two, though neither fits my original mental image. But I'll see if I can work with them. I think the guy on the left seems more like a witch hunter to me, maybe the guy on the right is a herald of some sort...?

Spinning Old Figures into the Web

Some old figures painted years ago, but they were out and working their way into the "Althammer" stories evolving in my head.

Long ago the orcs were driven from the Old World. The Old Gods as well. But among the Great Orcs of the Grey Mountains, a few refused to flee or end the fight. For over a hundred years, one of these stubborn beasts -- the Khorc -- has fought on. The legends vary. It is unknown whether the Khorc is a single orc who forged a pact with the Dark Powers and has gained an extended lifespan. Some legends say that he lives as long as he fights. Blood and skulls fuel his body and soul. According to other stories, there have been several Khorcs, each defeating the previous wielder of the great daemonic axe and chaos armour, claiming the artifacts as trophies and extending the battle...

Merchants and adventurers sail the globe to make their fortunes in Marienburg. Some do so under more favorable winds....

Of the Grill, Elemental Evil, and even more Oathmark

Home alone this past Saturday night. A rare occurrence. The first part of the day was spent being responsible. But I decided to indulge once dinner hit. Grilled some steak and ate outside on a pleasant afternoon. (Saved one for the next morning's breakfast, but my asshole dog ruined that plan.) A few glasses of La Fin du Monde accompanied me through my evening's adventures...

I built (10) more Oathmark humans (a couple of GW heads used for variety again. I've now got (20) built and I'm debating whether to use the remaining for (10) archers or (5) archers and (5) more melee troops.

Then I finally broke the seal on the Temple of Elemental Evil board game I've had sitting around for about 2.5 years. I've been planning to try solo gaming of some sort to scratch the itch, I finally had an evening to indulge...

After reading a little on BGG, I opted to run the solo game with (3) heroes: ranger, cleric, rogue. They struggled to make it through the first scenario, and the unexpected deadly killer of the group is the rogue. In fact, game would have been over already if he hadn't saved it at least twice now. At the end I realized that not only didn't I separate the "advanced" cards out (fought a lot of tough opponents!) but I also forgot to collect treasure until the end of the scenario!

The second mission went much easier.

I'm debating whether I should paint the minis or not.

It was a fun game, and solo is better than no gaming, even if it took this long to get to it. It would have been more enjoyable with friends, though. Still, I hope I can run through the rest of the campaign.


The previous weekend was my daughter's 8th birthday. For the first time, she wanted to have her party at home. We're lucky that her birthday is in Summer, so we have outdoor options available. We borrowed a bounce-house from some friends. The party theme was loosely "monsters" and dressing up/cosplay was encouraged. (My daughter was a zombie.) As I was chaperoning the bounce house, one of the kids dropped this awesome mask over my head and told me I was "a unicorn dad now."