North African Buildings from Cork Floor Tiles Part II

Hi All,

Back in September last year I blogged about making some buildings from cork tiles for my Sudan gaming project. Having been distracted by other stuff for a while it was nice to get back and finish all but the fort. That will happen soon but I've decided to do a bit more modelling work on it before I paint it up.

In the meantime, here's some pics of the completed houses (one large plus three small) and mosque, along with a few tribesmen for scale. Remember to click for larger images...

I'm not sure what I'm working on next. The weather has been so rotten of late varnishing is a nightmare and inks are playing up too. Stay tuned...

Cheers,
Millsy

The Whites are Coming!

Hello Chaps,

Another faction has been added to the chaos in the Wirral - White Russians. More info on the Port Sunlight 1938 blog but here's a teaser...

Toodles,
Millsy

I made this! Homemade Basic D&D Dungeon Masters (sic) Screen

I've been seized by the desire to play some (very) old skool roleplay so we're kicking off a Basic D&D campaign tomorrow night with me as DM. Yes, you read right, BASIC D&D.

As the game was so simple in the basic form I figure I can just about run it using only the module in play plus the various charts and tables i.e. a DM's screen. But where to get one? They're OOP and subject to a fair bit of use being used for every game by anyone who owns one. Chances are any I find will be overly expensive or in pretty awful shape.

Sooooo... rather than bother trying to find one I decided to have a bash at making my own. I found all the charts and tables easily enough on the web in text form, massaged a few and added the bits and pieces I wanted. Somewhat enthused by the whole process I also made a "cover" based on the red box set covers.

And here she is in all her glory. Double sided, on thick black card with joints of heavy fabric tape. She has character type info on the outside for the players and the critical info on the inside for the DM. Just the ticket!

Outside showing "cover" and character type data tables i.e. level progression and saving throws

Inside showing DM type data and tables i.e. combat, cleric's turning, thief's skills and item costs

Here's all the individual pages including the "cover". Note the stern instruction to players regards their obedience and also the deliberate lack of punctuation regards ownership, just like the original books. :-)

I should point out that the images and data are all copyright of the authors and publishers, even if it is from the very mists of time. You can download a copy for yourself here.

So now I'm ready to rock. Time to roll some dice, check that THAC0 and give a carrion crawler what's coming to him.

Cheers,

Millsy

Warhammer Dogs of War Duellists

Hi All,

Followers of the blog may remember a couple of posts ago I made mention of a mate called Evan...

One quick thing before I go - a special mention of my very good mate Evan. He's been a bit of an inspiration on these guys and even gave me a unit of Birdmen of Catrazza gratis. Stay tuned for a unit named especially for him...

As I'm a man of my word I present a unit of sell-sword duellists, captained by the infamous Evan the Black of Estalia.

In his earlier years Evan the Black was a gentle, kind-hearted soul scratching out a living working as a stage coaching boss and playing pub trivia in the dives at night. A chance encounter with a cold-hearted tax collector at a trivia night, a scuffle and an "unfortunate accident" where the tax collector fell of his own knife and Evan's ordinary Estalian life was erased in an instant.

He fled to Lustria and lived off his winnings and the contents of the tax collector's purse until the money ran out. Forced into a life of petty crime and violence he learned the hard way that life isn't easy at the bottom. Nowadays Evan the Black leads a band of the very hardest of sell-sword cut throats, going where the money is and doing whatever is asked - for the right price.

 

Til next time...

Cheers,
Millsy

Dogs of War Pike converted from Empire Spearmen

This is my first pike unit for my WFB Dogs of War army - the Reggimento Pica de Belalcázar, or the Pike Regiment of Belalcázar.

The name comes from Sebastián de Belalcázar, a Spaniard from Cordoba who travelled to the New World in search of riches. In Dogs of War terms they are a plain 24 man pike unit with full command. They have two colours - a regimental colour and the family colour of their captain.

I used the old style Empire spearmen as they have puffed and slashed uniforms, more in keeping with the look I'm after than newer figures. I was lucky enough to find almost the entire unit without shields attached, meaning the majority of the work was in drilling out and replacing the spear shafts with brass rod and reattaching the spear heads. I also did a few head swaps from various other Empire sets for extra variety. I'm going to have to magnetically base these guys as the brass pike makes them quite unstable, the "at charge" ones in particular.

Here's the pics. Remember to click for larger versions...

And here's some flat images of the two colours, regimental one first and family second. These were knocked up in InDesign / Photoshop as usual with some free clip art images and a pic from Wikipedia.

Comments and such welcome as always.

Cheers,
Millsy