Friday, April 4, 2025

Saturday is the Battle of Kadesh Participation Game!

  


Greetings all, 

If you are in the Northwest Wyoming area this Saturday, I would love to see you at Gestalt Studios in Powell, Wyoming around 1pm.  

I will be hosting a participation wargame about the Battle of Kadesh using the In Strife and Conflict rules.  This is an event open to the public and I hope to have folks get hands-on with wargaming.  No experience necessary and I will provide everything you need to join in. 


I will be on hand to talk about wargame design, host the game, sign books, and have a great time!  

First come, first serve.  

I hope to see you there! 


Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  


You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!    


Monday, March 31, 2025

On The Painting Desk: Batching Anglo-Saxons

If you recall my goals for 2025 was to complete painting my Anglo-saxon army.  I picked it up from Victrix miniatures using Late Anglo-Danes and Early Saxon kits.  I went ahead and assembled and painted the first few units, a Noble unit and 3 Fryd units. That will be the core of the army.  However, an Anglo-saxon army is more than just a shieldwall!  


Now, it is time to build and paint the remaining units for the army.  That is two units of Skirmishers and one unit of archers or slingers.  However, I am making 20 archers and 10 slingers because I can.  The great thing about the Victrix Dark Age Archers is that they will work fine in my Anglo-saxon, Viking, and other Dark Age armies for Fury of the Northman.  For the Skirmishers, I am using a mix of the Late and Early Saxon set that I had left-over from the shield wall.  The Early Saxons had better parts for Skirmishers, but most of the bodies were tunic wearers from the Late Anglo-Danes kit.  It took me a bit to assemble them all, but here we go..... plus two Monks just because.  


The next step is of course to prime.  Of course, the weather in my area is not conducive to priming in the winter time.  Therefore, instead of the usual Grey Seer spray paint prime.  The alternative was my usual white undercoat with a brush that I have used on my historicals in the past.  However, that is not how I did the Shieldwalls, so that made me pause before deciding what to do next. 

Thankfully, we had a moment of clear weather and that solved my issue. I was able to get outside and get these bad boys Grey Seer undercoated.  Crisis averted!  However, I lost a few weeks waiting for that to happen.  


With the priming done, it was time to just lean into it and get batch painting!  By now, I have a very familiar process for this.  I did not plan on deviating from it this time, because it works really well for me.  Only 50 or so models to do in this batch but none of them have shields!  That will make this batch much quicker!  

I generally get a decent amount of time to paint on the weekends as my wife is a full-time student and employee.  Therefore, at least 1 day on the weekend she is doing homework all day.  That means, the house is fairly quiet and I need to entertain myself for a while.    


That means I had a Saturday to work on these Anglo-saxons.  I was able to give everyone some flesh using Barbarian Flesh from the Armypainter line.  Then, I set about batch painting.  I always start with shoes, and I typically use two or three different colors for it.  This time I uses Oak Brown, Leather Brown, and Fur Brown for the footwear.  Typically, every third man and then fill in any gaps at the end.  

Then, I did their leggings.  Not all of the models had leggings.  My perception was that it was a distinct minority.  However, I still used three different colors on the Leggings.  Armypainter Skeleton Bone, Desert Yellow, and Mummy Robes.  

Next was the trousers.  Here I used about five different colors with each unit of 10 only using it once or twice.  Therefore, the force would have similar colors but each unit was relatively unique in their attire.  For the trouser I used a variety of colors from Scaly Hide, Army Green, Deep Blue, Daemonic Yellow, Uniform Grey. Leather Brown, all the way to Pure Red.  

Most of these models are just wearing a single piece tunic that covers the arms and goes down to the knees.  However, there are a few that were wearing an underlayer.  The models wearing leather armor had it over their tunics as well.  Therefore, I used the same colors I had used on the Leggings to paint the under garments as well.  I made sure to avoid matching the same colors of leggings, trousers, and under garments.  No one duplicated colors.  Everyone was pretty much had their bottom halves painted, but after the first Saturday they still looked like they had a long way to go!        
  

Then, a disaster struck.  I was stricken with Influenza A!  It hit me pretty hard, and I was out of commission for two weekends.  That really messed up my timing!  Once my Influenza A cleared up I got back to work, but the spark was still not really there.  Time to grind.

I used the same colors I had used on the trousers and undergarments for the tunics.  Honestly, this is the bulk of the models surface area.  I think getting the tunics done means that these models are about halfway.  All that is left is belts, weapons, hair, and hats.  Mostly small things, but things none the less.  

After a month of working on these guys, I am a bit behind on the progress I wanted.  I expected to be this far after two weeks, not four.  However, now that I am healthy I just need to finish them off and grind the last bits out.  

I think I am going to call it an update for this week.  Until next time! 

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Friday, March 28, 2025

Battle of Kadesh Participation Wargame in Powell, WY

  


Greetings all, 

If you are in the Northwest Wyoming area on April 5th, I would love to see you at Gestalt Studios in Powell, Wyoming around 1pm.  I will be hosting a participation wargame about the Battle of Kadesh using the In Strife and Conflict rules. 

The wargame features 6mm models on 40mm x 40mm bases for that "big battle" feel.  It is being played on a 6-foot by 4-foot board.  This will be a huge game covering a lot of territory!  

This is an event open to the public and I hope to have folks get hands-on with wargaming.  No experience necessary and I will provide everything you need to join in. 


Of course, I will be on hand to talk about wargame design, host the game, sign books, and have a great time!  First come, first serve.  

I hope to see you there! 


Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  


You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!    


Monday, March 24, 2025

Review: Mage in the Mirror - Hasbro/Avalon Hill

 

Does the Quest for Heroes ever end?  So far, the answer is NO!  I am onto the next supplement I have picked up to expand my Heroquest adventures.  I decided to pick-up Mage in the Mirror next for a couple of reasons.  The first was that I wanted the Elven furniture and the Elven enemy models to help expand and round-out my Fantasy miniature collection.  I use these for more than just Heroquest, so these were good additions to that.  Second, I had heard good things about the Quest pack that came with this one.  I think before I paint it though, I may pick-up the Dread Moon expansion since it also has some more of the Elf minis.  Might as well paint them all at once! 

Apparently, this is another re-boot from an earlier version.  I had never heard of it in the US, but in the UK it probably was a thing.  Since I had never heard of it, I am not surprised I have never played it.  Therefore, this one will be a new experience.  

So grab your shield, sheath your short sword, put on your cos-play elf ears, and let's get ready to delve into this expansion!  


Things I Liked

First off, I am super happy to see that a key NPC got their own model in this supplement.  This follows in the footsteps of the Against the Ogre Hordes boxed set.  This also helped me pull the trigger on this supplement set next, a new hero model and a new unique NPC model.  

This Quest pack adds a few new ways to get around the HeroQuest board.  It has Iron Portcullis, a trapdoor, and a Magic Mirror.  The Trapdoor and Magic Mirrors allow you to "teleport" to another space where the second Trapdoor or Magic Mirror is in the dungeon.  The Iron Portcullis acts as another type of door that can not be opened unless you have a special key.      

The game adds a new special Elven magic deck that the Elf can choose instead of just the left-over Elemental deck.  There are 11 Elven Magic cards, but eh Elf can only take three of them per Quest.  However they can change between quests if the player wishes.  


Things I Did Not Like

There is a new type of trap called a Wandering Monster Trap.  When sprung, the trap unleashes the Wandering Monster for the Dungeon that immediately attacks.  I like the concept of this trap, but what I do not like is that Heroes can not detect or disarm it.  It essentially always allows the Wandering Monster a free attack.  In addition, this Quest Pack adds the idea that a Wandering monster may be mor than a single creature!  They also add a Long Pit trap, that requires you to have three move after jumping it.      

There is a cool mechanic in theory for Quest 7 and the  Werewolf Curse Dread spell about turning the players into Werewolves!  However, the execution of this cool idea is a bit convoluted.  Zargon controls players in wolf form, and they drop all their gear.  The game comes with some markers, which would also be useful for if character's die!  

Wow, the Elf can really get kitted out in those first three solo-quests if everything goes right.  I am not sure how balanced that is, but I suppose most Heroes at this point have gone through at least the Core quests and 1 Expansion, so probably pretty buff.   


Meh and Other Uncertainties

This Quest pack starts off with 3 solo-quests for the Elf before he calls in his team to help him.  I am not sure how I feel about these Solo-quests.  I could see them being useful for getting a single player back up to power to join a more-established group, but that would really disrupt the rhythm of the rest of the Questbook.  I think it is an interesting idea, but I am not sure it really works in a team game like HeroQuest.  

The the Quest Booklet there are some rules clarifications about how to pass items between Heroes.  

The Quest Pack adds some rules for Scrolls as a 1-use item.  This makes them similar to potions, only with different spell effects.  There are also new artifacts and items for the armory thanks to this Quest Pack as well.    

There are four "new" monsters in this expansion.  They are Elven warrior, Elven archer, Ogre, and Gaint Wolf.  This Giant Wolf can also be used as the Werewolf for Quest 7.  The Giant Wolves are two base models, where the Druid's Wolf is only a single space.  These are some big boys. The Elven Archers are also missile troopers with 4 Attack(!) dice at range.     



Final Thoughts

Another interesting HeroQuest expansion down.  If you like HeroQuest, this does more of the same!  Like many HeroQuest expansions, it has a lot of interesting ideas.  However, some of them only last for a single quest.  I am looking at you Werewolf!  

If you have heroes that have managed to get this far, this will give them new challenges.  If you are looking to expand your miniature collection, this is a good buy. If you are looking for something that is a big innovation or very different from regular Heroquest than this might not be for you. 

I will now put in my obligatory request to Hasbro/Avalon Hill for a Heroquest themed Mass-battle game using the Heroquest models and molds.  For the forces of Dread they can all ready make units of Dread Warriors, Abominations, Orcs, Goblins, Skeletons, Zombies, Mummies, Ogres, and Giant Wolves.  For the King's forces they have Guardian Knights, Elf Warriors, Elf Archers, Barbarians, and Dwarves.  So close to an alliance army.  They just need some mounted troop types for the Alliance.  Battlemasters beckons!           

I look forward to painting it up.      

If you are in the NW Wyoming area on April 5th, you will want to check out this Participation Wargame the True Crit Gaming Guild will be putting on at Gestalt Studios in Powell, WY. 


Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  



You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!                         

Friday, March 21, 2025

Join me for a Battle of Kadesh Demo Game in NW Wyoming

  


Greetings all, 

If you are visiting the East Gate of Yellowstone on April 5th, I would love to see you at Gestalt Studios in Powell, Wyoming around 1pm.  I will be hosting a participation wargame about the Battle of Kadesh using the In Strife and Conflict rules.  This is an event open to the public and I hope to have folks get hands-on with wargaming.  No experience necessary and I will provide everything you need to join in. 

This game features 6mm models on 40mm x 40mm bases on a 6-foot by 4-foot table!  It will be huge! 


Of course, I will be on hand to talk about wargame design, host the game, sign books, and have a great time!  First come, first serve.  

I hope to see you there! 


Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  


You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!    


Monday, March 17, 2025

Heroquest: The Lair of the Orc Warlord and Prince Magnus' Gold

 

Back on the Quest with the further adventures of the Fellowship of Destiny!  You may recall that the fellowship did not have an auspicious start!  Their Barbarian Nonak was killed by Varag during the Trial!  However, Mentor was able to locate a replacement in Neo-wulf.  With the Fellowship reforged, the Fellowship was entreated by Prince Magnus to rescue his advisor Sir Ragnar.  Ragnar had been kidnapped by the foul Orc warlord Ulag.  Led by Allathusa of the Green, and joined by Hamilcar Margos, Aerlin and Neo-wulf the adventurers managed to free Sir Ragnar and battle their way through the horde of greenskins to safety.  The Fellowhip was handsomely rewarded for their efforts.  

The Fellowship of Destiny! I decided to go with the Classics 

 After freeing Sir Ragnar, the Fellowship had enough gold to update their equipment.  Hamilcar and Allathusa picked up some helmets to help protect themselves from harm.  Aerlin had a fine staff crafted for him, giving him enough reach to support his fellows with more than just magic! Thus equipped, they received word from Mentor.  A new challenge awaited them.  Price Magnus had deemed the kidnapping of Sir Ragnar a great offense.  He offered a reward for Ulag's head!  Using Loretome, Mentor was able to divine the location of the warlord's stronghold.  Thus armed, the Fellowship of Destiny made haste to smite Ulag and recover the reward.  

The Lair of the Orc Warlord

Our heroes descended into the Orc Warlord's stronghold.  They set-up a kill zone at the first door, and were aghast to find it heavily guarded by Goblin sentries.  Despite the tactical advantage the goblins were able to apply serious damage to Neowulf and Hamilcar with some lucky hits as they stormed into the fortified room.  1 room down and the Fellowship was all ready in rough shape!  

Before the Fellowship even made it to the first hallway, Hamilcar and Neo-wulf were down to half wounds.  Despite the injuries, the party split up with Neo-wulf and  Aerlin going one way, while Hamilcar and Allathusa went the other.  The Elf advised against such a strategy, but Neo-wulf wrecklessly pushed forward, heedless of the Elf's words.    

Aerlin used his magic to heal just as Neo-wulf was jumped by an Abomination in a weapon's room!  That was close!  However, the pair did find a trusty wooden staff there.  It was not as nice as the one Aerlin had commissioned, so Neo-wulf kept it incase it was needed.    

Meanwhile Hamilcar and Allathusa battled their way through a few Orc guards.  Again, the Orcs were able to leave Hamilcar heavily wounded, and Allthusa and Aerlin were out of spells to help!  Allathusa's helmet had paid off, as she blocked multiple crude orc sword blows with her head!  However, the battle had taken a long time, and Neo-wulf and Aerlin were able to return to help, their scouting leading to a dead end. 

Despite his injuries, Hamilcar barreled ahead and slew goblin warriors guarding a cupboard.  There he found a health potion and eagerly gulped it down.  His wounds slowly closed and the severe bleeding stopped as the magic coursed through his veins and knitted damaged tissue back together.  That was just what Hamilcar needed to keep going!  

As the leader,  Allathusa took the lead.  Her efforts led the Fellowship right into a room full of danger.  Orcs and Abominations filled the room.  

Hamilcar, reinvigorated; leapt into danger and attacked.  However, it was all the others could do to keep Zargon's forces from overwhelming them.  Aerlin's Ball of Fire hit the Abomination but the magical flames seemed to have no effect on the beast.  However, Allathusa's Tempest spell held him up long enough for Neo-wulf to arrive and help out.  It was a tough fight, but the Fellowship pulled through.  

However, what they found in the next room was even worse!  There, they found Ulag in counsel with a vile Dread Warrior in ancient and corrupted armor, a foul stench emanating from his bloated form.  Hamilcar was enraged by the foul beast and attacked, while Neo-wulf tried to thin Ulag's goblin guards.  Allathusa took on Ulag in a duel, but her skills with a sword were sorely tested by the Orc Warlord.  

Things were looking perilous for Allathusa, and she used her magic to escape; only to fall into a pit trap protecting a treasure chest in the other room.  Apparently, Ulag had yet to be paid by the Dread forces of Zargon as the chest was empty!  

Neo-wulf mopped up the Goblin guards and roared a challenge to Ulag!  The Orc Warlord could not turn down such a fierce opponent and squared up.  The Dwarf and Dread Warrior's duel was also an epic battle, with both exchanging punishing hits.  However, the Dread Warrior seemed to shake-off the hits with ease!  He even managed to tank one of Aerlin's spells!    

Finally, Neo-wulf managed to off-balance his foe.  As Ulag over-corrected the barbarian spun is sword in a wide arc and lopped his head from his body.  Aerlin blessed Hamilcar with Courage and the Dwarf managed to dodge beneath the Dread Warriors' blow and strike him a fierce blow beneath the arm of his armor.  Aided by Aerlin's magic, the blow was fatal!  

The forces of Zargon had been bested once more.  The bruised and battered Fellowship managed to reach the surface once more, and collect the reward from Mentor on their return.  Ulag's head was all the proof Mentor needed to convince Prince Magnus that the deed was done. 

Post- Battle

Wow!  Zargon's forces were rolling really well this game.  I was taking triple hits from Orcs pretty regularly.  The Elf's helmet paid off in spades, and the Dwarf's extra armor was enough to keep him alive.  To make it worse, the forces of Zargon did pretty good rolling black shields as well, so the battles were hard fought.  I think the Fellowship took something like 20+ wounds in this dungeon.  Everyone made it back in one piece, but only by the skin of their teeth! 

With our gold, I was looking to see if we could get a few Potions before going to the next Quest.  However, I am only finding a Potion of Speed available, as well as armor and weapons.  I think other Quest packs expand the offering, but I am going to keep it to the core rules for now and not offering any others yet.             

Prince Magnus' Gold      

Having proven themselves useful to Prince Magnus, the royal lord has reached out to Mentor to help him with another problem.  Royal gold was stolen by a group of marauding orcs and their Dread Warrior master, Gulthor.  Mentor has offered the services of the Fellowship of Destiny to help retrieve it.  With a reward being offered, the Fellowship strap on their arms once more and make their way to the bandits hide-out.  Before heading out, Hamilcar picked up a shield to boost his Defense to 4.  

The Fellowship entered the catacombs with care, and were confronted by Orc and Goblin sentries.  One tied them up in a long hallway, and Allathusa used her magic to get past him, while Hamilcar shrugged off the Orcs attacks.  However, the dwarf could not finish the enemy.  


After finally besting the Orc savage in the hallway, the Fellowship continued their search.  The long hallways and spread out lay-out of the bandits stronghold was stringing the Fellowship out.  They were becoming separated, as the labyrinth was probably designed to do.  As Aerlin the Wizard searched a room for treasure he was ambushed by an Abomination!  Thankfully he was able to fend off the creature long enough for Neo-wulf and Hamilcar to finish it off.  However, the Wizard did not escape unscathed.  


From there, traps took a toll on our intrepid Fellowship.  Neo-wulf and Hamilcar both fell victim to Pit traps, learning the hard way.  Neo-wulf also fell victim to a trap while searching for treasure alone.  The monsters had failed to hurt them too much, but the traps were hurting.  As they explored another long hallway, Hamilcar took the lead and put his learnings to use.  He detected and disarmed a trap.    

From there, Neo-wulf flew into a rage at the dishonor of all the traps and went storming far ahead of his companions, who failed to catch-up.  He burst through a door to face several Orcs.  He tore into them, and by the time the rest of the Fellowship caught up, the Orcs were in disarray.  A final shot from Aerlin through the doorway with his staff finished the last of them.  Neo-wulf failed to learn his lesson and stormed off again with Aerlin barely keeping pace.  Allathusa and Hamilcar were trailing far behind! 

Neo-wulf sighted an orc guard and cut it down in moments.  He then impetuously stormed into the center room with a roar of defiance!  There, he found Prince Magnus' gold, as well as the vile Dread Warrior and his gang!  The bandits grabbed their weapons, and attacked  but not before Neo-wulf and Aerlin stormed the room and killed a Goblin guard.  

They were quickly surrounded!  An Orc warrior guarded the door as his friends attacked the impetuous invaders, Neo-wulf and Aerlin.  Aerlin found himself faced with the Dread Warrior, Galthor.  He smashed the poor wizard with his shield.  However, the Wizard kept his wits around himself enough to heal Neo-wulf.      

Hamilcar fought valiantly at the doorway, trying to break through the Orc defender.  However, the Orc held long enough to keep reinforcements from arriving.  Allathusa managed to cast sleep on one of the attackers through the doorway, relieving some of the pressure.  Seeing Gulthor bear down on him again. Aerlin used Pass Through Rock to escape the Dread Warrior and the room of death.  

Neo-wulf hacked down more of the gang in his battle rage, but was taking damage at an alarming rate.  Hamilcar defeated the Orc at the door, and he and Allathusa rushed in to aid their companion.  A Rock Skin spell helped keep Neo-wulf going, but the Abomination and Gulthor were slowly tearing him apart.  

Finally, Hamilcar was able to get the drop on Gulthor and sink his short sword into a soft spot in the Dread Warrior's armor.  The Dwarf claimed a second Dread Warrior kill!  Neo-wulf and Allathusa managed to clean-up the rest of the bandits after that.  

From there, the heroes managed to lug the treasure chests to the stairs and escape.  There Sir Ragnar's men meet the heroes, and gathered the gold to take to Prince Magnus. They compensated the Fellowship with their reward as promised.   

Post-Battle

This was a close run thing.  Neo-wulf had been reduced to 1 Body after healing once. Hamilcar to 2 Body after being healed once,  Allathusa also down to 2, and Aerlin was also down to 1.  The Pass Through Rock spell had kept him alive!  Thankfully, I had enough spells at the end to keep me going.  

The monsters were not getting triple hits like last time, and I was rolling pretty well for defense the first half of the game.  The second half..... not so well.  The traps really took a toll on my team.  It seemed like the order of operations kept having me fall into traps as I was moving into new areas, beyond where I had all ready searched for traps.  I am still getting the hang of how to make sure traps do not whittle my Fellowship down early. 

The quest has a cool, carrying mechanic; but by the time it comes into play; it is mostly useless.  It just makes it take longer for pointless rolling to escape the dungeon and it takes twice as long now.  However, if we took the chests and scattered them around the dungeon, this could have made things more exciting as there would still be foes to face off against.  

When all was said and done, I did manage to walk out of the dungeon with a Potion of Strength and a reserve Healing potion for Allathusa.  We also had enough gold to buy some more defensive equipment for Neo-wulf and Allathusa going forward.  

Until next time as the Fellowship of Destiny continues their quest.       


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You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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Friday, March 14, 2025

Battle of Kadesh Participation Game from the True Crit Gaming Guild

 


Greetings all, 

If you are in the Northwest Wyoming area on April 5th, I would love to see you at Gestalt Studios in Powell, Wyoming around 1pm.  I will be hosting a participation wargame about the Battle of Kadesh using the In Strife and Conflict rules.  This is an event open to the public and I hope to have folks get hands-on with wargaming.  No experience necessary and I will provide everything you need to join in. 


Of course, I will be on hand to talk about wargame design, host the game, sign books, and have a great time!  First come, first serve.  

I hope to see you there! 


Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  


You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!