We played ’A Bridge over Troubled Water’

This Thursday I finally got around to play Paul’s ’A Bridge over Troubled Water’ scenario. The game has been a long time in coming and it certainly was worth the wait. I played with my pal Rasmus aka The Mosh-Pit Maggot at house in Jutland. Most of the minis used were mine, while we used most of his terrain as well a few of his models (the mounted ones).

We played the scenario with WFB3rd rules and adjusted the scenario and the names slightly to fit our ongoing series of battles revolving around the robber baron Alban von Edelhahn dwelling in the Black Mountains. I dare not call it a proper campaign, but it is certainly slowly getting to feel like one. This was the fourth skirmish we have played with Alban as the central character.

The lighting in the room where we played wasn’t particularly photo friendly and midway through the game I forgot to take pictures. The fog of war and all that! What I can show you here is thus mainly some pics for the sake of atmosphere. I also need to get better at taking these battle-pictures. My close-ups ended up completely blurred or overexposed due to the flash.

The greenskin forces of Ozgut – the up-and-coming orc champion

The scenario worked very well I think. The table looked a bit empty due to a limited amount of terrain, but once we got started it came together nicely. We agreed that crossing the river reduced movement to a quarter; this was perhaps too harsh as my orcs would experience. That being said I would certainly include more bushes and trees on the table to make it come more alive, if I was to play the scenario again.

The actual combat was a pure massacre. Alban von Edelhahn and his retinue had entered the valley to slay Durk the Troll living under a bridge over the river running through the area. They arrived in the valley just as Ozgut, an orc champion, was approaching the very same bridge in order to tame Durk.

The battlefield

Seeing the greenskins approach Alban ordered his men to take up a defensive position and then began firing volleys of arrows on the approaching orcs and goblins. Ozgut send his two wolves, Snapjaw and Snagtooth, across the river in an attempt to outflank Alban’s men and create some havoc among the humans. At the same time Durk got a whiff of the approaching human archers taking up their position next to the abandoned toll house by the bridge.

Durk charged out from underneath the bridge but was hit by several arrows causing wounds he failed to regenerate. Badly hurt Durk charged Alban von Edelhahn, but failed miserably in the attempt to wound him. After this Alban served a single blow to the troll and surprisingly killing the beast. This of course was a major and rather sudden setback for Ozgut and his greenskins.

The greenskin forces sneaking out through the thickets

The wolves crossed the river and were met by the ever-busy Alban and his hot-blooded nephew Heinrich von Edelhahn who had charged the two wolves head over heels. Snapjaw caused a wound on Heinrich before the wolf was slain by Alban, where after Snagtooth turned around and fled the combat.

Meanwhile Alban’s astronomer and counselor, the alchemist and mage Simon Rotkopf had positioned himself in front of the bridge, waiting for the approaching unit of 20 goblins led by Frinkelgob. Ozgut and his orcs were following right in the heels of the goblins and steadily suffering casualties from the arrows raining down on them. Even Alban was amazed by the success of his five archers and five men equipped with crossbows!

Alban von Edelhahn and his men taking up their defensive positions

Once the goblins set foot on the bridge Simon Rotkopf released his Windblast spell and not only incapacitated the goblins, he also blocked the bridge for the orcs, leaving them stranded while the arrows kept striking home. He result wasn’t pretty. Ozgut lost all but one of his orcs and fled the table. Once Ozgut took to the hills the goblins turned around as well and Alban could celebrate his victory.

Well, as it perhaps shows, Rasmus was incredibly lucky during the game. He kept making every roll and I failed equally often when rolling for the greenskins. At least Ozgut survived to fight another day and he is certainly looking for a chance to get back at Alban.

Orcs snaking out of the forest while Snagtooth and Snapjaw are heading for the river

The entire thing took about three hours to play, which includes setting up the table and making all the initial rolls etc. Not bad for a Thursday night.

Thanks to Paul for writing the scenario!

Alban von Edelhahn’s troops

 

The slow approach of the ords and goblins

The goblins still have a way to go in order to reach the bridge

 

Snapjaw and Snagtooth by the river

 

Alban’s forces are ready!

The terrible troll Durk emerges from underneath the bridge

Durk the Troll – soon to be Durk the Pincushion!

Durk with one wound left!

Assorted dwarfs

I found time to work on some old Citadel dwarfs. My photos are crap and messes up the impression of the paint job. Nevertheless I’m quite pleased with my work on two of them; the Norse dwarf with the axe and the one holding two javelins.

The dwarfs are all sporting the same colours (yellow and green) in order to give them some sort of clan identity.

The Norse dwarf has a large scar running down the left side of the face, very close to his eye. This inspired me to paint him as being blind on the one eye. The result is perhaps a bit weird, but he definitely has a certain bad-ass air to him now.

I must confess that I find it difficult to come up with shield motifs for dwarfs. The boring tankard is trite, but to find other ‘dwarfish’ motifs is no easy task and I definitely need to think some more about dwarf shields before I start painting any further little beardy chaps.

 

The last of the dwarfs is really, really small, almost gnome-like in size. I wonder when this mini was produced. He gives the an expression of being a pre-slotta miniature appropriated to the new slotta format – however, that’s only me guessing. His face is wonderfully characterful, which you probably won’t be able to make out on the photo. Does anyone of you know when this dwarf was produced.

Next up I’ll be working on some foot knights.

 

I’m lost, damned and a slave to darkness now!

Yay! Having birthday does have its benefits! The lost and the damned have now aligned themselves with my slaves to darkness. Obviously I’m a very happy man.

Score!

During the Easter holidays in Denmark one usually finds a huge number of small flea markets around the country. I happened to come by one and browsed through the stalls looking for vintage paperbacks – one of my other passions. I did not find any interesting books, however, I came across a small basket full of miniatures. Two kids were going through the minis when I spotted them. I immediately placed myself next in line and hoped the kids would move on and indeed they did, leaving the minis to me. I swear I did (almost) not stare them down or give them the evil eye!

I immediately spotted a Citadel dragon in the basket and asked for the price. The man in the stall sold the minis for 300 Danish crowns (c. 33 British pounds or 40 Euroes) and I instantly bought the lot.

I guess the minis I bought would qualify to what you encounter on Ebay as a ‘job lot’. It’s a mixed bag really, but I’m very pleased with the bargain. What strikes me about the collection is how much it reminds me of the old days and the way people collected minis for RPG’s then. It’s a completely random mix of minis from different companies and lines. It’s rather charming actually. The paintjob on them also screams late 80’s/early 90’s. This really takes me back to when I began to paint minis myself. Here’s what I got:

First we have the old Citadel ‘Large Red Dragon’. It’s missing the horns, but they are easily replaceable. I have painted this mini twice already for a friend a long, long time ago and it has a certain nostalgic value to me. To have one myself now is thus a great pleasure.

Next we have a selection of vintage Citadel minis. There are some really nice ones here and some rather battered specimens.

There was also a partial undead cart.

Then there was this Little band of skavens:

A Mordheim character was also hiding in the lot as well as a flagellant:

Up next I uncovered several old plastic Skavens and a single elf.

Moving on, a selection of 90’s plastic minis was also present – a bretonnian archer, two high elfs and a grumpy, large-hatted chaos dwarf as well as a number of horses with and without tails and a group of space marines.

To conclude the Citadel minis the lot also included this more or less contemporary trash along with some useful bits, such as shields, which heads straight into my box of pieces for conversion projects.

Next in line I found this cool sci-fi marine from Metal Magic.

In the basket I discovered a large number of Grenadier minis.

 

I especially like this little group of fellas. I’m not really sure what they are – some sort of goblins probably. Can anyone of you identify them? Nevertheless they immediately inspired me to use them as some sort of greenskin or skaven slaves. I would sure like to get hold on some more of these and perhaps include some kobolds among them as well.

Finally I found these oddities. It also looks like some sort of psychedelic warband!

 

Well, what do you think? Was the price fair?