Plague Marine Sorcerer

A few years back I was given the Plague Marine Sorcerer (who I believe has a name in the expanded literature, but I don't know it) from Forge World, and I was a little intimidated. He had some much going on with him I took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Well I finally braved it and this is the result. Though in the future I promise do do an army with a paint scheme that photographs better. Getting the detail has been quite difficult in spite of the photoshop filters.

I have actually used this guy on the tabletop a few times before though unpainted, so I am glad that he actually has a paint scheme, though I am not sure when my next game will be.

Overall despite his detail painting this guy wasn't too bad. It just took a while to get him together. But I am pleased with the result.

Now the insignia on the Banner isn't the best, but I am not much of a free hand artist and I thick I got the effect I wanted.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Nathan Tyrell the Cleric

In game 9 of JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign, The party fled the Wolf's Head Inn which had come under assault from dozens of giant spider's. With a handful of survivors, the group fled into the night, leaving the Inn, as it erupted in flames from a tipped oil lamp in the distance.

Nathan Tyrell was one of the people that fled tavern with the group. He is a Cleric of St. Cuthbert, and a wandering soul and adventurer. Just the sort the party was looking for given they lost their druid the game before and their cleric the game before that.

The palyer's managed to chat with the other two survivors they brought along with them, but Nathan's back ground is a little more mysterious. Aside from his worship of St. Cuthbert, and his status as a wndering Cleric, he skillfully changed the subject when they asked where he was from.

Whatever his past, a new cleric is welcome in the party, for as long as he will join, and he at least seems the friendly type.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

F86 Sabres

Way back in 2015 I managed to snag myself a copy of the elusive Check Your 6! Jet Age Rules, which are considered among some of the finest Jet AGE combat games out there.

I have always loved Jets, and other Cold War Ear Technology, and Check Your 6! Jet Age covers that period splendidly. using a modified version of the same system WE use for our WW1 Dogfights: Canvas Eagles. So I figured it would be easy to pick up. And then of course like so many of my games... I never played it.

Well, with some interest coming back into Canvas Eagles, I figured I would dust these two planes from Raiden Miniatures off and give them a paint.

I started with two F86's to match my 2 MiG-15 (which I am in process of painting), figuring it would be a good and simple place to begin exploring Jet Age Combat. We could get to missiles later.

These are my first minis from Raiden Miniatures, and I think they are of good quality given the 1/285 scale. Now keep in mind these are not GHQ minis. The quality is not as high and you will need to clean them quite a bit with your knife before they are really paintable. Other details, such as the metal components on the cockpit I had to paint by hand. But given there low price they are a fantastic alternative to GHQ and have a huge selection of Aircraft.

I hope to have these jets up in the air soon in a Check Your 6! Jet Age battle against their Korean War MiG-15 Counterparts.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Waerham's Hold

In Hymns of a Vagabond Game 13, the party encountered a small, abandoned and run down fortress in the woods that had become an outpost for goblins: likely a smaller detachment from the invading forces to the North East.

After scouting the area, we discovered that the front "gate" was more a pile of debris and that their couldn't be more than 30 goblins inside. Taking the Fortress would be a risky move with our party of five (Though were level 4 on average), and with our supplies low we decided that we would retreat to a nearby orchard... Only it was also guarded by Goblins. After dispatching that group we discovered that the orchard had a supply of cider, and that gave us an idea.

A day or two before my character had found a few poisonous mushrooms with his Identify Mushroom Proficiency. So we chopped them up, but them in a sack with a rock in, and sunk it to the bottom of the barrel. We then cut up 10 apples to fill the barrel and mask the poison sack at the bottom of the barrel and let it set over night.

The next day we had to postpone our assault due to freezing rain, but the next day we set out plan into motion. We let the cider get captured, and waited while it took effect. we then crept up towards the forest ignited the rubbish at the main gate. And battled our way through.

Even though most of them were sickened by the poison the goblins put up a strong fight. We lost one NPC in the fight, and if we didn't have a cleric we likely would have lost the entire party.

We ended the game exhausted; having slain the final enemy in the fort. Next time we will get a chance to explore and hopefully reap some rewards from our conquest. We also need to decide what we want to do with our new found fort. We certainly don't have the man power to hold it, but it we abandon it, the goblin could just as easily return.

What do you think we should do?
 
Written by: Andrew Gregory

Jocelyn Farwell

Jocelyn Farwell is warrior of some note, but when her father told her he was going North, she left her post, and followed him. Trained to be guard all her life, the change from the Courtly cities of the south to the harsh forest towns of the north was quite a drastic change. though with the coming goblin war, she has found her lust for combat fulfilled.

Jocelyn does not have the same affinity for the north that her father does, but her sense of family honour and duty drive her on. Now I have only seen a bit of what she can do in a fight, so I look forward to seeing what she can do. But I have a feeling she is even a better fighter than my character Flint.

Well whether she proves a better sword than I or not another fighter is a welcome edition to the Hymns of a Vagabond Party.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Dremmond Farwell

Dremmond was born in the North, but took up a post in the South with Queen's Regiment in Vineside. However, in the passing months as the threat of goblin invasion grew and grew in the northerly lands, Dremmond came to see that the dignitaries he was protecting were unwilling to return the favour and protect his home. So, taking his daughter Jocelyn with him, he deserted.

Dremmond encountered Flint, Sen and Kvara by a farm that the three had come to looking for water, and that Dremmond and his daughter were currently protecting from attacking goblins. After helping them, and agreeing to aid Dremmond in his quest to clear the goblins out of the long abandoned Waerham's Hold. Which at the point of writing this will happen tonight.

I will let you know how the battle goes in an update.

I haven't seen much fo Dremmond or his daughter Jocelyn to know what their relationship was like, but it was strong enough for her to follow him in his desertion. So there is at least some love and caring going there. But beyond that we shall see.

To Flint and Sen, Dremmond represents a source of knowledge about riding, fighting, and something that they will eventually have to deal with... The court. Best of luck to them!

Written by: Andrew Gregory

P.S. We did take the hold, but sadly lost Dremmond to the goblins in the battle.

ZOMBIES!

Yet another classic undead encounter, though this time the smelly and fleshy kind: Zombies! Whether Shuffling, Running, or just on a casual stroll, Zombies always make for a great encounter, and an easy one to write. They fit into almost any campaign setting, and can range in difficulty as needed.

If you need a monster and don;t know what to throw at your players check out the Zombies section of your Monster Manual, and see what fits!

Now remember that Zombies are slightly more powerful than their skeletal cousins having up to double the hit points that a skeleton would have. That means they can take a few hits and have the time to dole them out. A low level party can easily be over run by them, unless they are supported by a Cleric.

So, as long as you don't throw in too many Zombies, and your play party isn't full of clerics, they should add for some good panicked fun, and an encounter that your players may choose to avoid rather then slog their way through.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Strikland Woods

This map was so worn and so faint that I had to throw it under a few filters in photoshop just to get the image to show up. My character flint traded some furs for this map (along with other supplies), and then as a player I quickly lost it which mean the DM made me lose it in game.

Well it showed up again a while later (stuffed behind the bookshelf), and I figured I would share it with you. We are at least 50 or more miles from the area this map shows, but it is still an interesting memento, showing the begin of our journey from the small hamlet of Carthen to the left, as we journeyed towards the Abbey, and eventually towards Faen's Tower, where we got the spell book that we have been trying to sell for the passed 7 games.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Asra'Vellyn

In JADE's 2nd ED AD&D Campaign: Arachnophobia Game 6, Adam's Death Priest Enoch found himself trapped in the Temporal Prime: the Demi-Plane of Time. Early Game 7 Enoch was dead,killed by a Temporal Dog, and it was time for Adam to create a new character. He though about it for a while, before ultimately deciding on creating an Elven Bard.

It was a perfect choice, as the party was only two days away from a tavern that the road was taking them to. As soon as Asra met the party he was intrigued by the strangers form the north, and got himself wrapped up in their capture by a knight sent to claim them for a nobleman named Count Opplethor.

The knight's plan's were cut short however when the inn was over run by giant spiders in the knight, and the party was able to escape capture and flee, gaining some NPC stragglers and Asra along the way.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Skeletons Oh My!

Despite their susceptibility to being turned, Skeletons are one of my favourite fantasy monsters. The haunting image of something that was once a person in rusted and ancient medieval armour is just too cool of an image to not have in my games.

Skeletons are a great low level encounter, though you need to be careful when using them around a Cleric. The Turn the Undead ability is quite powerful, and can change an encounter with such creatures from formidable to laughable. But otherwise for a low level party, you can scale a skeleton's difficulty by giving them armour and weapons, or taking such equipment away. making them a challenging or simple monster to fight.

My first encounter using these fellows was in the swamps (using the terrain boards my mother-in-law made me for Christmas) in Game 8 of JADE's 2nd ed AD&D Campaign: Arachnophobia. It proved to be a harder encounter then I had anticipated, mostly due to some uncharacteristically poor rolling on the part of the party. They survived, but it was costly. Two player characters and 1 NPC were severely wounded, and they lost another NPC to the Undead hordes.

Despite defeating them the first time, this will not be the last the party encounters the Undead as the flee the coming onslaught of the giant spiders.

Written by: Andrew Gregory