Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Zee Baron! I actually had a pretty productive painting schedule this year. Got a little bit of everything done. For 2010:
1. Finally get the heavy cav done for my long unfinished Italian Wars Renaissance armies, I've had tons of foot and light horse done for years but never got the Gendarmes done. I have a nice core built, now I just have to add the extras for flavor.
2. More Russian Civil War. Love painting the Copplestone figs.
3. Pike and Shot. My favorite period but I haven't painted that many units. I'm building a solid core of pike amd shot, then add on to cover all parts of the Thirty Years War (and maybe some Unkerlant skirmishes).
4. The War rages on! Unkerlant's currnet sufferings rage on. We had a few scheduling conflicts that pushed back a few battles, but those who have been following the campaign will be surprised by the next few moves. Unkerlant might get a king yet! (though how long he'll keep the title is another matter).
5. 15mm SciFi. Lead Addict Ken gave me a bunch of this stuff for my birthday and I'm steadily hacking away at it.
That's it for now. Haven't taken advantage of my 2 weeks off to use in the painting dept. Mostly playing xbox 360 with my son. Until next year. For God, Glory and Unkerlant!

Holiday Gaming

Our usual Thursday game is being interrupted by Christmas Eve, so the Basement Generals got together last night for a Wild West shootout, using my favorite rules Fistful of Lead. As usual, it was a bloody affair. While the bank was being robbed, two groups made of Mexicans and Indians were trying to steal a load of rifles from the US cavalry. The alley outside the bank was slick with blood, but two outlaws managed to escape with the loot. And, the Mexicans got one load of rifles off the table. Always fun!
Happy Holidays!

Japanese WW2 Supervillains Pt2

Here's some more baddies to add to growing list of opponents to the Liberty League;
Part 1 was here:
http://baronvonj.blogspot.com/2009/02/japanese-super-villains-of-ww2.html
Featured are Tengu (a crow man from Japanese mythology)

Oni, a monster created from mutated Koi DNA

and 4 kamakazi robot explosive devices

PIkes forward!

Here's a stand of shot I put together. This has always been my favorite period, don't no why I haven't spent more time on it. These boys need some firepower...

Thursday night GASLIGHT

With the holidays coming up, its been tough getting enough of the Basement Generals together for a game. But, last Thursday, 3 braved the cold, and that was enough to cobble together a quick game of GASLIGHT. No scenario, just a brawl between a German/Prof. Nightshade faction and an Anglo-Franco-Russian force.
At first, it looked like bad for the Germans as the French took out the much feared Killenkanner on the first shot of the game. But then, things quickly went south. Professor Nightshade's mechanical minions clattered forth, ignoring any losses thrown their way. In a fire-fight with their human enemies, they decimated the British and Russian soldiers. When the Brits finally got their "Red Knights" into action, they were taken out quickly by Nightshades Killbots.
I managed a few snaps of the action.

Blood Bowl League update

Last night's Thursday game was part of the Blood Bowl League. The Maulers (my team) were handed their first defeat of the season by an 8-year-old (my son). Not just any defeat but a 3-0 loss involving most of the Maulers dead or injured thanks to a pitch invasion.
On the other field, the No-Name Nasties finally got their head wrapped around the game and beat the the One-Eyed-jacks 3-1. To be fair to the Jacks, they were down a few men and lost the use of their star player before the game started to a Dirty Trick.
I'm copying this on the Basement Generals blog also.

Normans and Trolls

...well, GW Orcs actually, but I like them better as trolls. These are just things I managed to do over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Saturday night Song of Blades

Saturday night saw five brave warbands enter the Valley of Mists, a place of treasures and terrible danger. They were:
Grishnash, leader of a small orc tribe seeking glory.
Sir Gordon the Gold, and his band of adventurers.
Korgoth and his barbarian band.
Aleroth, elevn hero and his forest brethren.
and Sir Reginald de Pu and his retainers.
Right off, Sir Gordon found the Blade of Orc Cleaving, which got Grishnash's attention. Meanwhile Sir Reginald stumbled upon some ghost protecting a ruined temple. After the spirits were driven off, Reginald was awarded with the Bow of Eternity.
One of Korgoth's men, a berserker, ran off by himself and ran into an enchanted well. Unfortunately, it was guarded by a fis monster that quickly dispatched the wayward barbarian. The creature was later eliminated by the other barbarians, which gained them the Boots of the Hare god.
Across the valley battles were being fought and treasure uncovered. It looked like the elves might come out on top, but they got greedy and took on Reginald and his men. Though the great knight fell, his men ended up with 4 of the treasures, besting both elves and barbarians.

the Battle of Vollenbeck

The battle started precisely at noon, with a bold move by Prince Ruprect. Both Borogravia and Volborg battle lines were arrayed in the traditional way, with artillery and infantry in the center, with cavalry on the wings. But Ruprect sent his son, Ruprect the Younger with all the cavalry from the right wing across battle line to the left. He made it halfway and halted. A disaster in the making?
Meanwhile on the Duchy of Volborg's side, General Wolfe couldn't get his troops to move. His troops seemed paralyzed as their right wing was quickly enveloped.
A cavalry clash erupted soon after. The Volborgians fought valiant were systematically destroyed. With his horse decimated, Wolfe called a general retreat, and the Volborgians fell back to their capital, harassed all the way by Borogravian horse.
This was an odd battle. The forces were almost completely equal, but from the start Volborg was plagued by terrible command rolls, that left them at the mercy of Borogravia's much better rolls. This battle was almost entirely a cavalry fight. A few artillery rounds were lobbed, and one round of musketry.
I still love these rules (Might and Reason) and highly recommend them. Now for the fight in the northeast.

Gaming weekend

The Baroness is off for her world tour (girl's weekend). That means a weekend of wargaming. Tonight is the Battle of Vollenbeck, the much anticipated brawl between Volborg and Borogravia, to decide the fate of the west in Unkerlant. Saturday is either a Medieval battle or some VSF. Saturday night is a fantasy skirmish using Song of Blades and Heroes.
I will do my best to document the whole game-fest.

15mm SciFi

My first foray into 15mm SciFi. These were part of a birthday present from Ken (Lead Addict). They are will be heavy support troops for my French Foreign Legion.

Hrothgar's Folly

I'm trying an experiment. I, like others, have discovered that the D&D 2nd edition of our youth was truly the best. I created a random character named Hrothgar, using an online generator. My friend Ken (Lead-Addict), is the DM and he created a blog where the story is told. He writes a bit, I post what I'm doing, he rolls the dice or whatever needs to be done, posts it and so on.
It's like my own personal ZORK! You can follow this experiment at:
http://hrothgarsfolly.blogspot.com/
Let's see how long I last....
I'm also determined to create art for each part of the story, but set a time limit on each sketch. Above is the first of Our Hero.

Leviathan

I picked this up at Costco purely for the cover, but once I saw the inside map, I was sold. Leviathan is an alternate history on the brink of World War I. But the world poised for war is divided between the Clankers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans) and the Darwinists (Great Britain and Her allies). The Clankers use machines (war walkers and land battleships) and the Darwinists use bio-engineered super beasts.THe Leviathan mentioned in the title is a giant whale/blimp. Pretty cool, huh? It's a book written for teens, but so far it's action-packed and I love the setting. I smell a steampunk battle on thew horizon.

Stella Starfire

Another friend for Dash Dixon and the Galactic Guardians...

Vikings

Finally got these guys re-based. Still have a lot more to do, but thought I'd show how they're coming along. The minis are all Foundry. They haven't got they're dull-coat yet.

Norman Foot Command

Norman commanders, part of an upcoming Dark Age game. All figures are old school Foundry.

More from Volborg

Taking the field for the upcoming fight is the 2nd Infantry Regiment (Zweck's Own). Old Colonel Zweck is veteran of Unkerlant's many internal struggles and staunch backer of the Volborg cause.

Ruminations on turning the Big Four-Oh

"Or a Life Spent Wargaming"
This Saturday I turn forty, and like many in our weird little hobby, ponder how I spent so much time on booze, cigars and little lead soldiers. My earliest memories are of shooting plastic army men from Lincoln Log forts with dart guns alongside my Dad in his little apartment on the weekends. He bought the 1/32 Airfix soldiers at the now long gone Pappenfuss Hardware here in Independence. It was the painting guides on the back that got me interested in actually painting them. I was already constantly drawing, so I added painting to the mix.
Then in 1981, two world changing events happened. First, Bob Angotti introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons (thanks Bob, for a future life spent in the basement) and second, that wonderful tome known as the JC Penny Christmas catalogue came out, offering a box of Grenadier AD & D lead miniatures complete with paints and a "How to Paint guide". I spent that Christmas holiday at my grandparents in Arizona feverishly cranking out fighters and wizards. I created my own rules for combat, and was hooked.
There were two places in town that sold miniatures, and like a addict, I spent every dime I scrounged together on miniatures and begged my Mom to drive me to King's Crown and Yankee Doodle. When I wasn't painting or playing, I was thinking about painting or playing. It was at Yankee Doodle that I got to play with real grown-ups in a real wargame. Both stores are long gone, but I still think of them.
During Junior High and early High School, time that wasn't spent on girls or sports was spent painting and playing, with a lot of time lost to Villains and Vigilantes (I was a comic fiend, too). Later High School and college saw me spending more time on alcohol and girls than my little friends. They went into several large boxes and didn't come out again til I got my first real job at a large greeting card company (where I've been ever since).
Most of my gaming buddies had left or stopped playing all together. I played most of my games with Ken (Lead Addict) until I discovered Kansas City has a large wargaming community. Now I had the money, a huge group to game with and best of all, a lovely wife that tolerated and appreciated my obsession.
The whole exercise of writing this out, I guess, was to tell myself it wasn't time wasted, right? Most of the friends I have today, I got through the hobby. I play board games every Friday with my wife, daughter and son. My kids have grown up next to the gaming table with their Dad (my daughter knew the difference between olive drab and khaki at an early age). My wife has said on several occasions that she doesn't have to worry that I'm off at a bar or a strip club. She knows I'm down in the basement.
So here I am. Forty. It hasn't been bad. And there's thousands (yes, thousands) of little soldiers waiting to give their lives for their uncaring god who gave them painted life. Or not.

Reload!

Some recently finished reload markers for ECW/TYW.

Unkerlant Honored

It is with great joy Unkerlant announces it has been honored with Order of the Goblet, by the Reich Duchy of Beerstein. As soon as Unkerlant crowns a new monarch, the award will be passed on to them.
Huzzah!

Old School Chaos

Came across a horde of Old Citadel lead. This was one of my earliest figs I fell in love with. A little repainting and ta-dah!
I plan to use this guy and his chaotic buddies in a Song of Blades campaign. Speaking of which, Song of Deeds and Glory (the campaign rules) just came out yesterday!

Battlefield chosen

The Arch Duchy of Volborg has chosen to fight the battle of Vollenbeck on thiese green fields. Now for the date!

July in Unkerlant

In the west, the stalemate breaks. Volborgian scouts sent to reconnoiter the Borogravian army met with a raiding party of that same army in the hills outside Vollenbeck. The Volborgian troopers were driven off, but the Borogravians were unable to pull off their raid.
At dawn, General Wolf was awakened by his staff and informed the entire Borogravian army was pouring down the Vollenbeck road right at them.
In the east, grand maneuvers were happening. The scattered Zlobenian armies moved to close on Asstyria, while Franistover made moves on the capital, Koenigstadt. The Zlobenian 1st Army, in Koenigstadt marched via Zwolen to Asstyria. In Zwolen the met the Franistover 3rd and 4th Armies. The Franistover troopers fell back to their undefended capital, Wurzen rather than fight. This left the Zlobenians free to march on Asstyria. Because of their detour, that same army missed the Franistover 2nd Army marching south to the Koenigstadt, where they met the Franistover 1st and 5th Armies marching north from Middelheim.
Zlobenia had captured the Electorate of Styrland, but was now fighting outnumbered for Koenigstadt.
UPDATE: The outnumbered Zlobenian 3rd Army fell back into the fortress city to stand a siege.

Thursday GASLIGHT Battle

Last night saw a slugfest between British, Russian, French, German and the mechanical forces of Professor Nightshade. The objective was,....oh, who cares? Everybody had fun.

Anybody gonna be at RECRUITS?

Meet the Baron in person! I'll be there Friday night and Saturday morning. Saturday night, alas, I'm getting drunk.
http://recruits.mtswebsites.com/

Red Lewis Gunners

More firepower for the Bolshies.

Franistover Victorious!

The Zlobenian garrison was outnumbered 3 to 1 in Asstyria and took quite a beating before they were able to retreat. The 3rd Infantry regiment (Thwickhoffen's) and the 3rd Dragoons (Weiss's) were both reduced to half their strength.
Franistover took light losses to Von Grunhalders Grenadiers. The Colonel was elevated to knighthood for his conspicous actions during the battle.

In Ostvald the odds were closer to 2-1 favoring Franistover. Zlobenia's 4th and 5th Regiments (Bladdinski and Vasser's respectively) and the Ducal Horse Grenadiers were slightly reduced, while the 2nd Cuirassiers (Von Chumley's) took a beating during a holding to protect the retreat.
Franistover's 1st and 5th regiments, the Loyal Mountaineers, and Irish Guards all took slight losses in the fight.

The garrison at Ostvald fell back to Altenbruk, and the garrison at Asstyria retreated to join their army at Veckholm.

Action in the North

While the armies of Volborg and Borogravia sit watching each across the border (Ruprect, no doubt being robbed blind by the Salacians), things have heated up in the North. Franistover has made its move. Two armies dashed north to grab the Electorate of Middelhiem. Meanwhile, the 2nd Army attacked the small Zlobenian garrison in Asstyria. And just as their army marched north out of Ostland, the garrison at Ostvald was horrified to see the 3rd and 4th Franistover armies march i, led by the Prince himself.

Zlobenian Ducal Horse Grenadiers

...resplendent in their gold cuirasses.

Zlobenian Scots Guards

Will they be seeing action soon?

Results of June move

JUne was spent reorganizing forces. Zlobenia managed to capture more Electorates, and Borogravia attempt to raid Volborg's army in Vollenbeck but was unsuccessful.

The British are coming!

I finally painted up some brits for GASLIGHT. These are Empress miniatures and they great to paint. Giving some fire support are some repainted MageKnight steam knights. Next, the British sailors.

Results of May turn, beginning June